Re: How often should I handle my juvenile ball python?
Quote:
Originally Posted by
stargazed85
The problem is I have already handled her everyday since I got her Saturday evening. She seems to be doing great. I normally handle her at night when she wakes up. Should I start not handling her for the next week? Or should I continue handling her since I have been? It's just that I'm new to all of this!!! I appreciate everybody's advice and for helping me out. :banana:
It really does depend on some things specific to your snake. Is it a tiny hatchling unused to being handled or is it a big, mature snake that was somebody's pet and it's very used to being handled? Does it have a solid feeding history? Is it showing signs of stress like refusing to eat, constantly slithering around it's enclosure or pushing at it's lid all the time? Is it hissing or striking at you at all? Is it in a tight ball all the time you handle it? Stuff like that.
Personally I like to give any snake, regardless of it's history, at least a week of no handling, no attempts to feed it just to let it settle in. Then I like to get at least a couple or three weeks of good feeds into it before I do any handling other than basic maintenance stuff. I figure you have a good 20 years of handling time with these snakes, why rush it with a snake known to be shy and easily stressed.
Re: How often should I handle my juvenile ball python?
I think you need to base handling off of each individual animal.
ex: My two fires still are stubborn since their arrival.....they are snippy till out of their cage and then very tense for 5 minutes or so and defensive. They will calm but if you adjust position they will get tense and ball or sometimes strike. They are both handled daily except during heavy eye clouding during shed and after feeding. If they were to go off feed I would more then likely back off the handling schedule.
All other 8 bp's appear to have no issue when taken out....that may be once a day, twice a day if company wants to see or the neighborhood kids want to see, or if busy every other day for 10-15 minutes at a time. If they were tense, stressed with this approach I would again back off using their feeding performance as the benchmark. Of course feeding is highly tied into husbandry issues and problems but my environment is well controlled.
In short, you will learn to read your bp, each are different in comfort with handling, some come out of the tub to your hand, others may do a little protest hiss but be fine out of the enclosure, others may look at you like are you sure you want to bring that paw of yours in here? lol
If you learn your snake, read the snakes body language and feel, behavior, you will quickly identify a good routine for each of your animals:)
