Handeling when another is present.

I know Im not supposed to handle more than 2 or 3 times a week right now about 5 minutes or so at a time. I was told to hold to this rule for a couple of months with Plissken.

I was just curious if it was ok if a second person (my wife ) were prsent when I do take him out for a bit or would the presence of another person be too stressful.

Another person or 2 being around shouldn't be a problem at all. Some snakes can get stressed if there are a large # of people around, but you and your wife aren't alot of people, lol, so don't worry about it. :)

I wouldn't worry about it being just you and your wife (although I'm glad you're concerned). Just don't bring him to your family reunion. ;)

Jennifer

Yeah- I would not worry about it. David is right, large masses of people can make them nervous, but just you and your wife, not a big deal.

Thanx guys Im gonna take him out fer 5 now. :D

well I gave him 5 minutes with me, he didnt ball up on me but he did seem nervous, sorta tight if ya know what I mean so after 5 I put him back he tightened up on my hand than realised he was back in the cage and he went for his PVC pipe hide. Hes lying loosely in there as he usualy does.

At one point though while I was holding him he seemed curious about my face. Like he wanted to get closer to it and if I turned him away he would move his head so as to stay facing me.....wierd. :wink:

He was checkin' you out. :) I like it when they do that.

I never heard of the 5 minute rule. I have had Jojo out as long as a couple of hours he likes to get in my shirt pocket, pretty soon i am either going to have to get him to stop doing that or get a bigger pocket :D . Sometimes we even go outside and they both seem to enjoy it. But should i use this 5 minute rule and is it an actual "Rule" or just a common guideline?

Damien, it's to avoid overstressing a new bp while getting him used to being handled. It's not a hard and fast rule, but a guideline. Basically, if the snake comes to a new owner or is not used to being handled, it needs to be acclimated gradually.

My new BP i dont handle unless i have to clean its cage. But since i have had Jojo for about a year should it be ok?

Yes, that should be fine as long as you pay attention to Jojo's signals about what s/he is comfortable with. Paul only got Plissken a couple of weeks ago, so he is still very much in the acclimating stage.

Hey Marla,

How can you read your bp's signals to see if they are comfortable?
This is my first bp also.
I can read a dog, cat etc but I am having a hellva time figuring out Ozzy

Well, I am sure the others here can give long lists of signals that they get from their bp's, but here's a couple of examples from mine.

Hanover generally wraps tightly around my hand when I first get him out, then within several minutes wants to climb through my hair, go up my sleeve, or otherwise explore. If he curls into a ball or stays wrapped around my hand with his head tucked underneath for more than 5 minutes or so, I know he'd rather go back in his enclosure.

Snyder is not one for sitting still unless she's on your shoulders, and usually doesn't wrap around my hand when I pull her out but looks around immediately. If she draws back or wraps my hand, she is distressed and wants to go right back home (as she did when I pulled her out the other night to see if she wanted to feed, but her eyes were still slightly cloudy and she wanted her safe, warm hide instead of food.

As you can see, hand-wrapping means different things with my different snakes, so I have to observe them and see what their behavior patterns are to figure out what their signals mean.

Hope that was helpful.