How often do you handle your snakes?

I was surprised by the frequency of handling in another thread, so I figured I'd make a poll to see how often people really handle their snakes.

It's surely going depend on the snake, but just an on average estimation would work.

I handle my snakes pretty rarely because they act well when I do, except for my scrub, which I need to handle more until she calms down, it's just hard to do in the current setup.

I tend to try to handle them at least once to twice a week but I have a lot of stuff going on atm and I don't mind being nipped too much so I tend to let them do their thing if they look healthy. It really depends on if you want a well "tamed" snake, if you handle it alot then it'll become accustomed to the handling but if you stop they tend to relapse to their instincts a bit

I might handle my snakes an average of once a week for 10-15 minutes but I do try to let them out to free roam for longer time periods. I've also gone months without handling them except during cage maintenance. I don't see any correlation between frequency of handling and snake defensiveness.

If by "handle" you mean "put a hand on them to let you know that you're not a threat" then it's every day unless they are in shed or digesting because when I check them I reach into the enclosure and touch them or give them a light rub for a few seconds. If you are talking about getting them out for exercise then once or twice a week, again unless they are in shed or digesting.

Everyone gets handled briefly once a week for cage cleaning. This is usually just a quick pick up, quick visual inspection, then into a plastic tub while I clean their cage. About once a month I'll take some out to take pictures so they'll get handled a little bit more during that process. Other than that I don't handle the adults all that often. Most of them are calm and I haven't noticed them get more/less cranky with more frequent handling. If I have any younger snakes I will handle those more often. Typically after a litter is born I leave them alone for a month or two with minimum handling until they're eating well. Once they're eating reliably I try to hold them 1-3 times a week, usually just for a few minutes at a time to get them used to being handled without stressing them out too much.

Depends on the snake honestly. I don’t handle my sand boa much because she’s always hiding so I don’t really feel the incentive to take her out. My bp and boa I take out 3-5 times a week and they don’t mind.


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A few times a year.

Its been my experience that frequency of handling isn't necessary to 'tame' (I don't like that word when referring to snakes).

Over a several year period where I was gathering information (weight/sex/temps/location) on wild snakes for a university, I picked up a ton of Bullsnakes (one weekend was 25 snakes). I don't use gloves, hooks and I don't restrain their heads while I'm gathering information...I can only remember one trying earnestly to bite me over a several year period...he failed, I got all his stats without restraining him, and we parted amicably.

I hold or let mine roam for at least an hour a day so if I need to skip a day she doesn’t get aggitatedI

Depends on what you mean by handling, like bcr229 I generally put hands on my snakes daily, I pull them once a week for a quick once over of both them and cage but as far as sitting down with them, handling and letting them roam around, I'd say 1-2 times a month. More or less depending on my schedule and weather.

I'll have my young boa out 3-5 days per week, but only she seems to be one of those snakes that appreciates out-of-enclosure time. If she were a more nervous individual I'd only have her out once or twice to keep her tame. Sometimes it's just a quick pick-up-and-check, other times I'll let her climb on me or put out some snake-friendly structures for her to climb on, but most of the time she's content to just sit and chill in my hand. It all depends on what her inclination seems to be that day. I keep handling sessions to about 15 minutes and won't take her out more than three days in a row, less than 48 hours after eating, or if she's in blue.

So here is the thing im a fairly new snake owner no problems at all, but after getting both my ball pythons off of live mice onto f/t rats to such a point where i can feed both like clock work.

Here is the thing i have noticed, temperature of the meal must be on point. I haven't had a refusal since and used a very interesting technique to switch the snake from live to f/t and worked like a charm, but thats a story for a different day, but because of this I only handle when cleaning , not even, I open the enclosures and let them come out by themselves. Normally i just lift the hide. This is enough to wake them and get them moving. Once im done cleaning i need to pick them up to put them back , so the actual handling is less then 5min twice a month.

I take my KSB out about twice a week, once for feeding and once for :cens0r::cens0r::cens0r::cens0r:s and grins and because I love letting him slither around. He doesn't seem to mind.

I handle my snakes infrequently. They come out for cage cleaning and photos, and that's about it for the most part. I hold my younger animals more frequently than my older animals, just to get them used to being touched and to monitor weight gain and such. But in general, I try to let them do their thing. They eat like champs and have no issues, and that's really what's most important to me.

For me, it just depends on the snake. The younger ones get handled more frequently as long as they’re eating, but my wife and I also have a couple of adults we handle at least twice a week. Those are our “therapy noodles” [emoji28].

Most of my handling time has recently been spent working with our new Retic though. I’d rather get her socialized before she gets too big to do so. Plus, most of my adult female balls are gravid right now anyways.


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