Brand new to ball pythons.

The aspen shouldn't present any problem to your snake. Even if a tiny amount was ingested remember we are talking about a creature with digestive acids equal to the task of breaking down bone, fur and teeth. If you are concerned (and I remember I was when we first fed snakes on aspen) you can always lay down a pad of newspaper over the feeding area of his enclosure.

Once the prey is thawed and sufficiently warmed up most people offer it on tongs, hemostats or long tweezers and jiggle the f/t prey a bit to encourage a strike (aka the dead rat boogie aka the zombie mouse dance).

The zombie mouse dance!!! I love it, :sunny: I think the snakes get a better feeding response with it too. I only have two snakes that will eat a f/t that I just throw in. And that's because they're piggies. ^.^

But don't worry, you will love your ball!

Thanks everyone. The newspaper over the aspen is a great idea!
I never thought of that!
Thanks a ton.
The only thing I am wondering still is how to go about getting him out.
I saw a way to make a little reptile hook on the internet, do you think that would work?
Thanks again! :D

When I got my first BP, I was so cautious about taking him out. What I used to do was to try and pick up his body very slowly approaching from behind his head, so he could not see me. That should work. Now its just second nature and I just pick up my BP's with no hesitation.

One more suggestion, give your BP about a week to settle in, feed him, wait two days then try and handle him. Hopefully he will calm down.