Handling retics daily?

I have a six month old dwarf retic and I've heard that you should handle them on a daily basis, is that true? How often and how long do you handle your baby retic? The one I have is about six months old.

20 minutes or so every other day.

I handle mine when I can, but I certainly don't handle her every day...maybe once or twice every other week, more often when she was younger and I wasn't working all the time, but she acts exactly the same now as when I was handling her more. I don't really think it's necessary to handle every day, and handling every day seems like it would be detrimental and stressful. 2-3 times a week should be plenty I would assume.

I interact with my snakes twice a day. The first interaction is minimal, when I do the snake-room check before going to work every morning. The only reason I would handle any of them is if I need to clean the enclosure. Otherwise they get a light touch and a mist of water, and I move to the next critter.

True handling sessions are reserved for evenings when the babies aren't digesting or in shed.

I would make a point of handling a retic or boa baby more often than a ball python baby, as you want that retic or boa to be a chill, easily-handled adult.

I never thought about just touching them on my daily checks, great idea!

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Originally Posted by cchardwick

I never thought about just touching them on my daily checks, great idea!

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With a baby or smaller snake I use my hand. With one that's bigger I use a hook, just in case I startle it awake.

I found out the hard way about waking up a sleeping snake, they can get really mean. Now for the ones I handle a lot I open the tub and if they are sleeping I leave it open for a minute or two. If they want to be handled they will wake up and crawl to the front. If they are still sound asleep I leave them alone.

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Originally Posted by cchardwick

I found out the hard way about waking up a sleeping snake, they can get really mean.

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Yeah I'm not exactly Miss Congeniality when I'm rudely awakened either. :)