Anyone heard of overhandling?

[toddstj]

I read somewhere that overhandling can make a BP aggressive. Anyone heard that before? My BP is out 1-3 hours almost everyday. She does not roam, but sits in someones lap or is wrapped around an arm. We take her on the patio at night, hold her and she climbs around on us. I feed live in her cage, she has never struck at me or bitten me. Sometimes she comes out of her hide when I am around. I just dont want to over handle if this is bad for the snake. She eats well, sheds well etc.

Just wanted to hear some thoughts about this.

[mrshawt]

There is no such thing as an aggressive bp. Fear due to stress in bp's is commonly mistaken as meanness. However, it is very possible to cause stress from overhandling, which can lead to nippy behavior.

Most people here recommend handling once a week for an hour at most. They really don't even need to be handled. I would say that you are handling your bp too much, but if she eats, poops, and sheds fine there really isn't any evidence of an effect.

[Kaorte]

A BP can become stressed due to over handling. I would probably limit handling to under 1 hour per day (excluding feeding days and digesting days).

Sounds like your snake is very tame if it is comfortable with just hanging out and sleeping around people. I would try to limit the handling just a bit. 3 hours is a bit excessive.

[mooingtricycle]

No such thing as an aggressive BP? Tell that to some of the ones here.... LOL

[mrshawt]

No such thing as an aggressive BP? Tell that to some of the ones here.... LOL

They don't do it because they are mean-tempered. It's because there is something stressing them out, whether it be from their husbandry or other circumstances.

[toddstj]

typically if it is 3 hours, it is when watching a movie or playing a game on TV. And she is usually just curled up in someones lap. I was just curious, I would hate to make her aggressive when she seems to like ppl and is very tame.

[rabernet]

They don't do it because they are mean-tempered. It's because there is something stressing them out, whether it be from their husbandry or other circumstances.

Aggressiveness does not equal mean. There are aggressive (assertive if you will) bp's, and there are more laid back bp's.

[Kaorte]

They don't do it because they are mean-tempered. It's because there is something stressing them out, whether it be from their husbandry or other circumstances.

I bet you somewhere in BHB there is a ball python that will always be ready to strike at you when you open its tub. And I really doubt it is from stress.

Just sayin.

[mrshawt]

I bet you somewhere in BHB there is a ball python that will always be ready to strike at you when you open its tub. And I really doubt it is from stress.

Just sayin.

I blame Chewy.

Aggressiveness does not equal mean. There are aggressive (assertive if you will) bp's, and there are more laid back bp's.

Yeah, to me, aggressive just sounds closer to mean. I agree on the assertive description, though. There are definitely some bp's that don't want to be bothered. Maybe it was just the wording.

[knott00]

I dunno, I've heard of some BPs coming out of their hides, traveling across the encloser and striking at someone cleaning the cage, I would call that aggressive. Actively seeking out a target to attack is aggressive, i don't care who you are.