best time to pick up?

guess i'm still not as brave as i should be but still uncertain about handling my ball. Should i pick him up at night while he is moving around or when he is in his hide or curled up? I've tried multiple times to pick him up and almost everytime he is really jumpy. i can tell he is scared or something just wondering if thats normal? I've got the temps and humidity set up perfect and he has also eaten twice since ive had him. not sure weight but just about 2 feet long.

In my opinion, once he has "settled" in for a week or so, I would start handling him anytime. The more you work with him the less jumpy he will be. Good luck!

He/she said he's eaten twice since they've had him. I'm assuming that means they've had him at least 10 days then. I handled mine after five days. I even cheated and picked him up on day two to move some stuff around in his tank. Never had any issues with him going off feed or acting stressed. I think it depends on the snake. My guy was a little jumpy when I got him too, but he was young and hadn't been handled much. I did keep handling him short at first. Five minutes a few times a day. Then I went up to 10/15 twice a day after a week or so. Now I can have him out for an hour or so before I get tired of keeping him out of trouble and put him away.

Don't be worried about him being jumpy. Just lift his hide up, grab him, and support his body. Nothing to it.

yes i have had him for three weeks now.. wouldnt take the first f/t mouse but took the next two feeding. i've handled him at least 4 times and when i'm able to pick him up he seems fine. its just the first initial pick up. i pet him from behind and he moves a bit then when i try picking him up he really jumps. i just dont want to stress him out. Also if he does bite me "which i doubt will happen" what should i do? what if he latches on and doesnt let go?

I did the whole touch them first before picking them up thing when I first got him too (saw it in a youtube video). Honestly I don't think it helps or hurts at all. He's going to be flinchy about some weird giant touching him or picking him up. When I would pet mine when he was still pretty new to me he's squirm/move wherever I touched him. Now he doesn't care. Just don't pay much attention to his flinchiness and just pick him up. He'll get used to you eventually and learn you're not there to hurt him.

I have yet to be bit, but everyone says it's really nothing with ball pythons, especially when they're young. From reading it seems like it's just the shock that they did it, not the actual bite, that scared them/made them jump. I've seen one youtube video with the latching on but haven't read anything around here that that happened to. I wouldn't worry about it. I would just keep relaxed, unwrap him tail first, and wait for him to let go. I seriously doubt that will happen to you though. :)

I used to be very nervous about being bit too, but he's never given me a reason to think he would (over excited feeding response excluded). Honestly just don't worry about it. If you're nervous your liable to make him more nervous. I look back and think about how silly my fear was. When I got him in the mail I sat there working myself up to touch him, then working myself up to grab him. I had never handled a snake and I was so nervous about being bit. Seems silly now. You'll feel that way too later on.

The "jumpiness" tends to go away. Just keep working with him. Once he's figured out you're not gonna harm him he'll trust you more. Mine would jump a little when I would pet her but now if I reach in and touch her she knows I'm gonna pick her up and either slithers right up my arm or balls up if she's not completely ready yet.

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Originally Posted by Kslab

Also if he does bite me "which i doubt will happen" what should i do? what if he latches on and doesnt let go?

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I've never had a BP do this, their strikes have all been defensive. My MBK did grab and hold my thumb a few days ago. She really hates water, so I first tried spraying her with a light mist to break her feeding response. No dice. Tried Listerine on a cotton ball in front of her nose next since I'd read that could work, nope, she was in a hard food drive. A cotton ball with some white vinegar waved right in front of her nose did the trick, she couldn't spit my thumb out fast enough!

There is a general rule of thumb. When a snake latches and holds or goes to coil it's a feeding response. A BP being defensive will just strike and pull back. This is the only thing I've ever seen them do when being defensive as I've had it happen sometimes during feeding. Your BP should calm down with time, just work with him.