How often do you handle?

I have seen a lot of variation in how much people say you should handle ball pythons. From 10-15 minutes a day to 15-30 minutes daily. (A little stressful I would think.)


How often do you handle your BP(s)? And for how long?

Just for maintenance. Snakes don't enjoy being held, really.

I don't think that there is any need to handle them at all...

I handle mine when I want to, and generally keep it under 15 minutes at a time.

I never handle within 48 hours of feeding, or during shed.

I handle my BCC and Morelia much more often than the balls. BPs are so shy anyway that I don't bother them much except for cleaning, feeding, weighing etc.


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I have my BP out with me as long as I want and have never had a feeding issue or a bad shed. They are pets and I treat mine as pets. I don't see the point in owning them if you can't handle. However, the others are correct, and they are snakes so they don't like being played with like a cat or a dog. IMO it depends on the individual snake. Some won't tolerate much handling and others won't care at all (mine for example). Hope that helps.

-Alex

Thanks guys!

2 of mine dont seem to mind it and seem to enjoy exploring a little. My other 2 would just rather chill in their hides and not have anything to do with me lol.

Both of my balls seem to enjoy being handled.
(......................that's what he said...........................)(I'm sorry I had to do it)

They slither up and down my arms flicking their tongue and checking out what's going on. They don't appear stressed, and have fallen asleep with their little faces nuzzled into my collarbone. They are definitely curious little guys.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by liv

Both of my balls seem to enjoy being handled.
(......................that's what he said...........................)(I'm sorry I had to do it).

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:rofl:

But yea, I take mine out all the time and they just roam around all over me. But like someone mentioned above I don't handle them during shed or when they've eaten.

I think it's a very individualistic thing... some of my snakes come out of there cage on their own when opened, and seem very relaxed during handling, and seem responsive to external stimulus - these snakes I handle often. Others, would rather be hanging out in their viv and left alone. I leave it up to each snake to decide.