How often should you handle a BP

Just want to see other peoples thoughts. I handle my ball pythons maybe 3-5 times a week depending on what I'm doing for 10-20 minutes at a time or even long if they're relaxed. Does handling make for a shorter lifespan? I read that somewhere but I'm unsure if I believe it.


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only when they make a mess and its clean up time for a few mins just enough to check them out. handling i don't think makes their lifespan shorted but they really don't like it.

I think it depends on the animal. I have one that most def doesn't like to be held and another that appears to love it. I'm def in the "I know my snake doesn't love me" camp but she most certainly acts like she loves to be held. I doubt holding will shorten lifespan unless maybe you are stressing the animal out to the point of it getting sick.

I'm with cletus on this one, they don't love.. but mine certainly seems to enjoy coming out to chill (apart from the coastal). All we gotta do is open the vivs, they climb on, get a nice wrap around then just stay there a while. This is the first I've heard of handling reducing life expectancy, i would imagine there would need to be a serious amount of stress and other factors involved :snake:

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Originally Posted by montymiow

I'm with cletus on this one, they don't love.. but mine certainly seems to enjoy coming out to chill (apart from the coastal). All we gotta do is open the vivs, they climb on, get a nice wrap around then just stay there a while. This is the first I've heard of handling reducing life expectancy, i would imagine there would need to be a serious amount of stress and other factors involved :snake:

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Just watched some YouTube video while scrolling and this lady said that but I didn't believe it, ive held my bps weekly for years without any side effects

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Originally Posted by Medduussa

Just watched some YouTube video while scrolling and this lady said that but I didn't believe it, ive held my bps weekly for years without any side effects

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I would take that with a pinch of salt for now, I just really don't see it being a factor lol. I've only been dealing with snakes for a few years now but it will be interesting to see if anyone else has heard of this :)

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Originally Posted by montymiow

I would take that with a pinch of salt for now, I just really don't see it being a factor lol. I've only been dealing with snakes for a few years now but it will be interesting to see if anyone else has heard of this :)

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It probably definitely isn't a factor probably!


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I have 3 BP's that are extremely shy, so I only handle them when cleaning, showing them off ;), or for a general check-up to make sure they are in good shape. The rest of my BP's seem OK with being handled, so they are handled about once a week, sometimes more. As for shortened life span from handling? Well, we have a w/c, rescued rat snake who acts like he's going to die when he's handled, he gets so stressed (Needless to say, he's not handled unless absolutely necessary) With that kind of drama, I wouldn't doubt great stress could be a factor in his shortened life span, poor guy. But, otherwise, I doubt handling has an affect on life span.