First handling...

I got my first BP Dec. 15 of last year. Today was the first day I have handled him since he has been at my place.

I gave him a nice long adjustment period and made sure I got him on a regular feeding schedule (he has been fed 3 times here) before I took him out of his aquarium.

I had been letting the little dude get used to his home. Today I took him out and let him roam a bit on my hands and on the coffee table. He was out of his aquarium for about 25 minutes. At first he was very shy and balled up. After about 10 minutes he started moving all over my hands and roamed on the table. I moved to another spot in my place with him and when I stood up and moved a bit he balled up. Overall I think this was an excellent first handling as he wasn't scarred the whole session. He is back to regular behavior in his little home.

My question is...

As far as handling is concerned: Should I handle him sparcly at first? So he gets used to being out of his cage? Or will he be able to be handled regularly now (daily, a couple times a day)? Is their a handling break in period?

Just looking for some advice.

Hi and welcome to BP.net! :handshake:


Sounds to me like you're off to a great start!

As a general rule, BPs are shy snakes that stress fairly easily. There are individual exceptions, of course, but for the most part, they are not "every day" snakes. Start slowly and gradually with the handling sessions and watch to see if he's still eating predictably. If he refuses a meal, then you'll have to cut back or lay off entirely for awhile and start again.

But even building up over time, I wouldn't handle most BP's for more than 30 minutes or more than a couple times a week at most.

Yep Judy's got it right. BPs just aren't big on being messed with a lot. A bit of quiet handling a couple of times a week usually is fine with most of them. We try to keep it around 20 minutes max and just sit with a snake while we watch tv. We're lucky enough to have 14 snakes so we can sort of rotate through them (12 are BPs, 1 is a BCI, 1 is a Milksnake). Remember to not handle the snake for 48 hours after a meal though.

I disagree, My BP lets me hold him every day a couple times a day he loves being out. He eats regular and sometimes he trys not to get into is tank by putting his head over it. No 2 snakes are the same so i guess work your way up to a longer holding time. Do you hook train your snake do you feed him in another tank when hes being fed?

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Originally Posted by samila18

I disagree, My BP lets me hold him every day a couple times a day he loves being out. He eats regular and sometimes he trys not to get into is tank by putting his head over it. No 2 snakes are the same so i guess work your way up to a longer holding time. Do you hook train your snake do you feed him in another tank when hes being fed?

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I feed him in his tank. I didn't hook nothing. I just wore gloves when I reached in to grab him for the first time. Just in case he got nippy about me reachin in his home (he just squirmed a bit, but no biting). After I got him out of his tank thought I took the glove off and handled him with bare hands.

:sabduel: :carrot: :taz: :rolleye2: I reached in to get chaos from his tank this morning and i couldnt see him at all!! i was so worried untill i saw his head poke out of the nest her dug under for the night. I said he was silly and to use his hide, he scared me but hes a cute guy. I picked him up and he was just fine with it no problems at al he was good and hasnt even noticed that i was here.

my RTB does that. the first time scare the bagesus out of me. My boyfriend had opened his tub to get him and went, "uhm. amy...hes not here" well i freaked out, looked formyself, and found that he wasn't! I looked under his hides, and moved a little bit of bedding on one side of the tub, and all of a sudden his little head popped up out of the other side of the tub. The look was priceless though (uhm. excuse me. im right here. but dont touch me. im sleeping. no go away.)

So last night I handled Snakey for the second time. It was the day before feeding day so he was restless, slithering all over. He was shy for 10 mins again when I pulled him out. I let him roam around my legs and table again. I had him out about 45 minutes, the snake didn't seem to mind.

Then my roomate wanted to hold Snakey. So my roomate picked him up and the snake made a quick movement to climb up his tail to get up on my roomies arm. My roomate was frightened and dropped Snakey from about 10-14 inches. The snake instantly balled when he hit the ground. He was tight for like 15 minutes after. I was hoping he would relax, he did not. I put him in his tank and hoped the snake would eat today.

Today (feeding day) rolls around and my snake had his head at the hide door. I got 2 mice from the store, held my breath. Thank goodness, Snakey ate like usual. I though my roomate had messed my stuff up. Man did I chew him out after that. I'm like look at the size of his head, he can't hurt ya that bad.

Sooooo, good first handling week! :carrot:

Sounds like you have a real cool snake.


As these posts show, every snake seems different. I've had mine for six months and handle him nearly every day (with the exception of two days after a feed), with no ill effects. He only balled up once, when I first brought him home. The previous owner said he also handled him extensively, although I have no way to confirm that. Others have different experiences with their snakes. Just depends.

I am a bit late, but I haven't been online much, so I've got a lot of catching up to do. I just wanted to add my :2cent: here...

I have had my Nagash (ball python) since March '06. After the initial "settle" period of only 7 days, I fed him, left him alone for another 7 days, and ever since I only take him out once a week, on feeding day. I mess around in his cage every 2 days or so to do regular maintenance, but otherwise, I let him be. It's not that he's shy...quite the opposite. He seems to enjoy being held. I take him out about 1 hour before feeding time, and we kick back on my bed together and watch television for a bit. He likes to stretch his body out down my legs, with his head by my feet. He will stay there until I MAKE him move.

I'm sure there are other snakes that need more handling to become tame, but Naga is just as sweet as pie.

yeah thats strange, I have also noticed that my snake tries to stop himself going back in the tank when i go to put him back - he either doesn't like his tank or he enjoys playtime too much!

I wouldnt have waited that long to start handling, but I'm impatient.

How long do you folks usually keep your BP out and about?

I have handled mine a couple more times since I originally wrote this topic.

The other night I had him out for about 90 minutes. He didn't seem to mind. This has not led to any feeding troubles. Today he ate his normal meal of 2 pinky mice. So that is two feedings with new handling.

I have read some people don't recommend their BP out for more than 20 minutes? Do I just have a really tolerant snake?

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Originally Posted by satanicnugz

The other night I had him out for about 90 minutes. He didn't seem to mind. This has not led to any feeding troubles. Today he ate his normal meal of 2 pinky mice. So that is two feedings with new handling.

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Just wanted to point out - pinky mice are generally not appropriate food for ball pythons, even as hatchlings they are capable of consuming hopper sized mice.

Pinkies just aren't developed enough to be a very nutritious meal for a growing ball python.

Might want to increase the prey size. I've seen ball pythons that had lived for months on pinkies alone...a very sad sight.

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Originally Posted by elevatethis

Just wanted to point out - pinky mice are generally not appropriate food for ball pythons, even as hatchlings they are capable of consuming hopper sized mice.

Pinkies just aren't developed enough to be a very nutritious meal for a growing ball python.

Might want to increase the prey size. I've seen ball pythons that had lived for months on pinkies alone...a very sad sight.

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Ut oh, have I been feeding my little homey the wrong stuff?

I thought I read you are supposed to feed them something about as big as their most girthiest part of their body? These are a bit smaller than his thickness,

He is approx. 19 inches long. Not sure of his weight. I'm also not sure how old my BP is. Not to old though.

I have been giving him 2 pinky sized mice every 5 days. The pinkys aren't the tiny deep pink colored with purple eyes. They are usually white or black with a small fuzz covering.

Here is a picture I found on the web of what I usually give my snake. I feed him two of these. About the size on the far left.

http://static.flickr.com/1/927264_00c4b95f20_m.jpg

If I am giving him the wrong size, please correct me. Also could you post a picture of what I should be feeding him so I can know what to look for when I go to the pet store. Thanks for all the help. I am a BP noob.

Yeah, those are pinky mice...

The "girth rule" is one of those oldschool rules of thumb that are actually just really silly. I've seen some female balls that, by the girth rule, would mean they should be eating small rabbits...in reality, they need no bigger than a weaned to small sized rat.

Your snake is probably not much wider than the pinkies because that's all the food its been getting...pinkies just aren't enough food for them.

Anyways, I would absolutely step up the prey size. Try using Hopper sized mice. These are mice that are fully weaned but still small. You could even try feeding a small adult.

Did the pet store tell you to feed pinkies?

Quote:

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Originally Posted by satanicnugz

How long do you folks usually keep your BP out and about?

I have handled mine a couple more times since I originally wrote this topic.

The other night I had him out for about 90 minutes. He didn't seem to mind. This has not led to any feeding troubles. Today he ate his normal meal of 2 pinky mice. So that is two feedings with new handling.

I have read some people don't recommend their BP out for more than 20 minutes? Do I just have a really tolerant snake?

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Sorry about the last post. Took to long to edit and it posted.

First, like Brad said I would stop feeding pinkies and go straight to small adult mice. I was feeding mine that when he was about 16".

90 mins seems like a long time to have him out. He may seem tolerant but I am sure he is stressing out especially being young.
I was told when I got Ozzy that handling sessions of about 10 mins every other day for about a month then up it to 10-15 everyday for about the next 3 months to get them use to you and being handled by people so they see you as no threat. Now w/ Ozzy being over 3 yo I only take him out about every 2-3 weeks to check him out and let him hang out for a spell. He likes to come out and look around the bedroom and check things out. After about 20 mins or so you can tell he has had enough.
And always wait at least 24-48 hrs after a meal to handle.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by elevatethis

Yeah, those are pinky mice...

The "girth rule" is one of those oldschool rules of thumb that are actually just really silly. I've seen some female balls that, by the girth rule, would mean they should be eating small rabbits...in reality, they need no bigger than a weaned to small sized rat.

Your snake is probably not much wider than the pinkies because that's all the food its been getting...pinkies just aren't enough food for them.

Anyways, I would absolutely step up the prey size. Try using Hopper sized mice. These are mice that are fully weaned but still small. You could even try feeding a small adult.

Did the pet store tell you to feed pinkies?

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Yeah my snake looks like he should be a bit fatter, now that you mention it.

I think I know what you are talking about, but could you post a picture of what a hopper looks like? I just went to google images and looked for the above pic.

Well the pet store I bought the snake from (an actual good store, I know the owner) never really recommended me a size. But whenever I mention pinky around him he didn't really say anything about it being to small.

Hope they don't mind if I gank some bandwidth...

http://www.micedirect.com/images/m_hopper.jpg

Just a suggestion. We have lots of snakes. We hook all of our snakes. It is really a good habit to get into. Snakes are creatures of familiarity. When we take a snake out of a tank or box we use a hook so that the snake learns that he is coming out not feeding.

What ever you do, do it the same why everytime
:rockon:

Pinkies? Wow! I'll have to agree that those are far too small for a ball python. Mine will be 2 years old in August and is eating one decently sized adult mouse. He can take on very large mice. I thought for sure his last meal was way too big when I saw it next to him (i feed frozen/thawed, so as it was laying next to him in the feed bin, i got a real good look), but he proved me wrong. He ate it with no problems and is already seeking another meal 5 days later.

And as far as a snake seeming tolerant of long handling sessions, I suppose they could seem like they're tolerating it alright, but you can't really know what they're thinking. I know mine likes to chill out on my legs before feeding, because he just lays there and moves his head about to check out any sights he's interested in. Then again, I never have people around when I handle him, unless my sister, mother or boyfriend are around. Everyone knows proper handling techniques so there has never been an accidental dropping. I've explained snake posture and when Nagash pulls his head back in an "S," THEY startled HIM and should not loosen their grip and let him fall, rather slowly move their hand to under his chin and give him a gentle rub. He loves it and will calm down very quickly. If someone new comes around and wishes to handle him, I explain everything and make them SIT on the couch sideways, so if they should get nervous and feel the need to let go, he will simply end up on the couch and I'll swoop him up to safety. I can't say he's ever met one person that has felt compelled to drop him, however. :)

I guess I was kinda scared and thought he couldn't eat such a big meal. He is stretchin like crazy when he eats a pinky.

Now I feel silly. Knowin what to really feed him.

So just feed him 1 nice hopper mouse every 5 days?

I feed my snakes once every 7 days. I just got another ball python from my breeder, and this is how his feedings are for each month :

1st week of the month's feeding: 1 hopper mouse
2nd week of the month's feeding: 1 hopper mouse
3rd week of the month's feeding: 2 hopper mice
4th week of the month's feeding: 1 hopper mouse

This is how he has been fed since birth. He is 10 months old. My breeder said that feeding 2 on the third feeding is just to "bulk him up." By the size of this snake, and the tiny size of his head, hoppers are the perfect size for now.

My older ball only gets one adult mouse a week, because he will not eat multiples. I tried once, and I gave him one small hopper to start with. He wouldn't take the second, no matter how hard I pleaded. So a few days later, I disturbed him to give him a bigger one, and the next feeding, I put him right back on adult mice.

These are simply my experiences, and what I have learned. Everyone's snake is different, no matter how similar they may seem. Listening to suggestions, reading up on these types of things, and talking to other educated people will help you find your own path and feeding/handling schedule. :) Good luck with everything!

Edit: You said your snake stretches like crazy when you feed him a pinky. Do you mean girth-wise? If he seems to get very "fat" from eating a pinky, you should pick a hopper that is not massive, just to get him started. Perhaps you can bump him up to fuzzies next feeding? Feed him 1 fuzzy per feeding for 3 or 4 feedings, then move him up to a smallish hopper for another 2 or 3 feedings, then get a hopper that is a decent size and feed on that until he gets bigger. Just a thought.

Handling is great, he will actually coil around my arm now. Something he didn't do the first few handlings.

Also the feed upgade...

So I found 2 rat hoppers (if u can call the rat ones hopper too?). I was a little nervous. Pinkys are weak and helpless, these rats were quick and were nippin on the tongs I use.

So today is feeding day. I dangled one in front of my BP (haha, still no name, butterbean, capurnicus, snakey?) He struck hard and only with like a 5 second dangle. He actually took it off my tongs, that is a first for me!

The buldge alctually looked bigger but no difference in eating activity.

I am glad you people told me I was underfeeding my snake. He does look skinny compared to the pics all over this site, he doesn't really have the husky (not fat) look. Although I'm sure now I can expect him to get nice and thick, and grow better. Good thing he has only eaten the 2 pinky combo 5 times. Have only had him 2 months.

THANKS!!!