New Ball Python Owner

I recently acquired a ball python from my local pet store. He/She seems to be in good health. It's about 20 inches long, so it's a young one.

I have some handling questions. I've had him out 3 times so far (only have owned him 4 days). And he seems quite nervous and untrusting at the moment. The first time I had him out he balled up and hid his head and it took him several minutes to emerge from this position. And several minutes more to start moving around. I was very gentle.

The second time I took him outside in the grass and again it took him several minutes to start slithering around. His little tongue was flicking out like crazy. Once he started slithering, he only slithered away from me and had no interest in being held. I had to pick him up several times so he wouldn't get too far away. One of the times he whipped around and stared me down for about a minute. I did not move a muscle in that time to avoid a possible strike. He soon relaxed and I brought him inside. When I set him in his cage I accidentally bumped his nose a little on the aspen bedding and he whipped around and stared me down :(. My fault I know. He relaxed quickly and slithered out of my hands.

The next time I held him, he relaxed quicker and seemed to be looking for a place to hide in the blanket on my lap. I didnt want him to hide too deep into the blanket so I gently picked him up and he whipped around again and stared me down once again. I did not move a muscle (same old story) and he relaxed and I put him back in his cage without incident.

I have now decided not to hold him until his first feeding tomorrow when I have to remove him to his feeding area.

And advice on the best ways to get him to warm up to me? I have always been good with animals and I don't want him to dislike me or fear me.

Well, You've already held him too much before feeding! MAYBE he'll eat tomorrow but i highly doubt it as he will be stressed and hasn't been able to acclimate in his new housing. Generally, I wait until 3 constant feeds to take them out (younger thats about 15 days) older thats about 1 month. This is to ensure there feeding habbits are good, and not "fluke of luck"

Again with snakes he will never love/like/adore you, but will tolerate you, and thats what hes doing, sure they will adapt to a person more then others, with smell's and what not, but remember him LOVING you is unlikely. I'd suggest leaving him alone for minimum 2 feeds, as i said he will most likely deny your feed tmmrw if this is the case dont panic, just dont handle him for the next few weeks in order to get him to eat!

Also can i ask why feeding in separate contain? Did pet store tell you this will lower cage aggression, If so never mind them, feed him in his enclosure it will make him feel more secure. Try not to hold until hes had 2-3 meals, (on a 5 day schedule) and by then you'll have a happy snake!

Best of luck

The answer you'll get, over and over, and for good reason is... Stop handling him. :) Don't touch him at all; my usual recommendation is to wait until your snake feeds at least twice, consecutively, for you before you start small amounts of handling.

At first, limit it to just a couple minutes indoors, and then slowly (over weeks if not longer), build up to longer sessions, and occasionally going outdoors.

For now, though, you should not be handling your new snake at all. Leave it alone to settle in, and try feeding it (in its cage) in a week. If it doesn't eat, not surprising, but don't worry and don't try again until the next week.

Having a ball python is an exercise in patience. :) Good luck!

-Jen

Thanks guys. Looks like I've already messed up :(. And yes, the pet store person told me to feed him in a separate container, and I have also seen this done several times on youtube. So just feed him in his cage?

I won't hold him until he starts to feed good I guess. So hard not to hold him, so beautiful and elegant.

And I'm not uneducated, I know he will never "like" me per-say. Just don't want him to fear me and bite me lol. He just slithered from his cold side to his warm side, so awesome.

Not mess up we all do it! When i get a new snake, or baby hatches I try to get ALL my holding itches out and will hold for 15-30mins, while setting up new tub. Once that is done, I tell me self over and over, "dont touch the new snake" and just play with 1 of the many others, but yes, leave him till he eats min 2 times, If you are feeding live you can try this upcoming week (give 2-3 days min after yesterday to settle down then feed) Onces he's eaten 2+ times feel free to handle 12-24 hours after feed =)

Thanks. I'll wait a couple days to feed then. He just slithered from his hot side back to the cold side :). Nice to see him move about with me sitting right here. He's actually most of the way still exposed which is uncommon for him. I can't get over how beautiful he is. It feels like such a treat to be this close to him. I've always been a snake admirer. Can't wait for the many years to come with him!

They are amazing creatures! Maybe one day you can hatch your own out! Nothing feels better

Firstly, congrats on the new baby!! And welcome to the addiction ;)
As a first time owner, it's no surprise you are a bit nervous and excited and scared and happy and worried and and and... everything in between!

I am just going to second what everyone else has said. On that, please do take a good solid look at the care sheet for ball pythons on the main forum page :) it has great information. Unfortunately, pet stores aren't always so versed in care for every exotic pet, and that more often than not includes snakes. We hear over and over again, on this forum, ill advise given by pet store personnel (of course there are always exceptions). So just to be safe, check out the care sheet, and definitely dive into this forum!

All the best!

Just an update for those who commented:

I stopped holding or bothering Apollo. I decided to try and feed him 3 days past his usually feeding day (according to petsmart) and fed him today. Unfortunately there was a recent recall on any frozen mice that I could buy locally. And buying them online was only available in bulk and I would have to wait for them to ship. So I found some live feeder mice and got Apollo a small one.

I dropped it in his terrarium and I proceeded to semi hide under a blanket on the couch so I wouldn't bother him but could still watch.

It took him about 5 minutes or so to start to move out of his cold hide. Once I saw him moving and flicking his tongue, I knew it was just a matter of time.
The mouse came around his water bowl right in front of Apollo and Apollo got him. Sad for the mouse, but happy Apollo got a good meal and is comfortable enough in his habitat to feed.

He also comes out every night to slither around and stretch out. So awesome. I also read the caresheet and decided to get another thermometer for the cold side and a hygrometer, along with an awesome background for his terrarium. So excited to have him around. I LOVE animals of all kinds. I also have two dogs and a cat. It's a childhood dream of mine to own a snake, and I finally do, and he is amazing!!

Welcome to the addiction! Make sure you have a thermostat if you have an under the tank heater (UTH). That is something I didn't realize I needed until after we brought our first BP home. And a temp gun is a great tool to give you a little piece of mind!

Sent from my SGH-M919 using Tapatalk

The whole "don't hold him until X amount of days after this, that and the other" is over-emphasized in my opinion. Snakes have no concept of time. The only exception to that is after feeding. They need time to digest. Even then, I've taken snakes out to clean tubs not too long after feeding with no ill effects. As long as they aren't threatened or handled too much they won't regurge...

Quote:

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Originally Posted by sho220

The whole "don't hold him until X amount of days after this, that and the other" is over-emphasized in my opinion. Snakes have no concept of time. The only exception to that is after feeding. They need time to digest. Even then, I've taken snakes out to clean tubs not too long after feeding with no ill effects. As long as they aren't threatened or handled too much they won't regurge...

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I think it depends on the snake too. With balls, they are eating something no larger than their bodies. With others, like corns for example, they may eat something 1.5x their body width because of their faster metabolism. In this case, I wouldn't stress (i.e. handle) them the next day at least. I'd feel more comfortable holding my ball the next day if I really had to.
But I agree; I think that we use time as our measurement for holding/not holding snakes because it's easiest for us. I think it would be more accurate to hold based on the stress level of the snake.
However, for new owners, they probably won't know what these signs are simply because they haven't seen them yet. So, I think this is where the "Wait at least a week or 3 consecutive successful feedings before handling when acclimating a new snake" comes in. :)

Quote:

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Originally Posted by sho220

The whole "don't hold him until X amount of days after this, that and the other" is over-emphasized in my opinion. Snakes have no concept of time. The only exception to that is after feeding. They need time to digest. Even then, I've taken snakes out to clean tubs not too long after feeding with no ill effects. As long as they aren't threatened or handled too much they won't regurge...

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In this case, it wasn't about regurging, or time - it was that the snake was not eating, and otherwise indicating stress.

Often, experienced keepers such as myself, or others that often find themselves helping new owners who continually run into the same sort of issue, we develop a rule of thumb to help ourselves and new owners know when to try and start handling their new pets for the first time. Me, I prefer to wait at least two consecutive feedings to ensure that the snake is fully settled in and no longer stressed. Some keepers prefer a month, regardless of feeder behavior, others feel that if it eats once, no big deal.

The point is that the issue here was that the animal was stressed and showing it the only way it could - by not eating. So we emphasize the whole "Don't touch it yet" thing to help hammer home that most ball pythons do not tolerate lots of handling right away, and refusing to eat is one way they tell their keepers they are stressed.

:)

-Jen