just got a new ball python

Please don't forget to get the BP to a vet, preferably one specializing in reptiles. You can ask them to sex it but they will probably decline due to it's small size. Besides, not knowing is kind of fun! First you think you know, then you think you got it wrong, then you reverse course etc... Mine was sold to me as a male, so I gave it a male sounding name. Only to find out later that it was female, but I kept the name anyway.

Back to the vet: A 100% healthy animal is the only acceptable outcome. If it has problems you should take it back, as heartbreaking as that is. If you accept a sick snake you will be far more heartbroken down the road.

Congratulations and enjoy, my BP was the start of my snakes. I only have three total but it lead to a northern pine snake and a boa constrictor. I love em all!

It's easy for me to say but don't be afraid to get bitten. They can't do much damage, it's more of a mental scare than anything. For me the first "swing" was when I did not know what I was doing, and was removing shredded aspen bark bedding from her cage -- right in front of her hide. I heard a whooshing sound and saw a blur as she took a swing at me and went back in. Whoa, FAST!

The only time I did get bitten, it was my fault. I was holding her in front of my computer, and paying more attention to the computer than her. I kept reaching my hand away from her, then back, away, back... sometimes smacking her head with my thumb. Being the patient little thing she is, it was not until the 7th smack that she bit me. I was shocked but I laughed because it was also funny because a BP trying to be angry is just cute.

You'll learn, it just takes time and experience. If you do get bitten, try not to react, in particular try not to yank your hand back as this could break a tiny tooth off. There is a chance that it could then get infected (where the tooth was, in the mouth not on your hand). Try to ensure that the snake gets the idea that threatening to bite you or biting you will not make you go away, this takes persistence but eventually they give up because it doesn't make you go away.