Orion, my adorable ultramel het pied ball python

https://ball-pythons.net/forums/cach...om/2qGnwA3.jpg

This is my first time posting here so I just wanted to show you my epic ball python, he's my first pet snake and I absolutely love him!
I am quite new to keeping snakes so if you could give me any tips it would be great. :)

Also I did wait a week before handling him, don't worry.

:welcome: What a beautiful ball python! If you read through some threads here, maybe that will raise some questions for you to ask us?

As far as "waiting a week before handling him", actually we recommend waiting longer than that. Since some snakes, & ESPECIALLY ball pythons, tend to fast at times (refuse meals), it's actually best if you don't handle a new snake until they've eaten 2 or 3 times for you at their regular intervals, & then give a day or two for their digestion. So let's say young snakes are mostly eating once a week- that means you wouldn't be handling him for at least a month while he gets settled in & eating is well-established. It's best not to offer food until the snake has been with you for roughly a week, they need time to settle in first. Eating is actually "job #1" for any pet snake, & handling may put them off feeding- it's terribly frustrating when your pet snake keeps refusing meals- I hope you don't find out. Has he fed for you yet? Is he eating pre-killed (fresh or f/t- frozen-thawed) or live?

Thank you! He really is beautiful!

Also, thank you so much for the tip, I actually stopped handling him after taking that pic because he seemed quite stressed (he was trying to bite me when I tried to pick him up, didn't want to sit still and was breathing really fast). I gave him a fuzzy rat 4 days ago and he ate it with no problem and now I handle him a bit every day (I waited 48 hours for him to digest it) just so he gets used to me and he isn't showing any signs of stress at all! He just calmly sits on my hand, doesn't try to bite me, breathes slowly, doesn't hiss, etc. So I think he's all good!

I forgot to mention that he's eating frozen/thawed.