How often should I handle my juvenile ball python?
Hey. I just got my very first ball python (very first snake as well) and was wondering how often should I handle her/him?
Re: How often should I handle my juvenile ball python?
at least 3 times a day for 15 minutes........at least
Re: How often should I handle my juvenile ball python?
There is no minimum requirement. I don't handle mine very often (I have a lot of them though) and they are all docile, even with minimal handling.
Re: How often should I handle my juvenile ball python?
I get mine out for 15 minutes daily and just let him hang out. Handle whenever you feel like it. lol
Re: How often should I handle my juvenile ball python?
If you just got your bp, I reccomend you let it settle in for atleast a week without handling. After that 15mins a day is just fine give or take, handling isnt a requirement. Hope this helps. :)
- Bd
Re: How often should I handle my juvenile ball python?
The problem is I have already handled her everyday since I got her Saturday evening. She seems to be doing great. I normally handle her at night when she wakes up. Should I start not handling her for the next week? Or should I continue handling her since I have been? It's just that I'm new to all of this!!! I appreciate everybody's advice and for helping me out. :banana:
Re: How often should I handle my juvenile ball python?
I would still give her time to settle in. Get at least one meal in her before you start handling her regularly. Make sure you wait 48 hours after feeding before handling your new snake. :3
Congrats and welcome!
Re: How often should I handle my juvenile ball python?
Quote:
Originally Posted by
stargazed85
The problem is I have already handled her everyday since I got her Saturday evening. She seems to be doing great. I normally handle her at night when she wakes up. Should I start not handling her for the next week? Or should I continue handling her since I have been? It's just that I'm new to all of this!!! I appreciate everybody's advice and for helping me out. :banana:
i would just let her chill for a week just to get settled down more. they have a hard time tellin us just how stressed they really are and you dont want her to start showin you by not eating
:welcome: welcome to the site and the adiction :welcome:
Re: How often should I handle my juvenile ball python?
Yea like the others have stated, there is no handling requirement. I have 2 snakes, and I handle them everyday, except after being fed for about 2 days, and when they're in the shedding stage. I don't handle my python as much as my Anaconda for the simple fact that my Annie was my first snake and she'll always be the most important girl in my life. Then next, my python is still a little flighty at times, if she gets spooked.
Re: How often should I handle my juvenile ball python?
Sounds like these other guys answered your questions, and Welcome to the forum! (forgot :rolleyes:)
Re: How often should I handle my juvenile ball python?
Quote:
Originally Posted by
stargazed85
The problem is I have already handled her everyday since I got her Saturday evening. She seems to be doing great. I normally handle her at night when she wakes up. Should I start not handling her for the next week? Or should I continue handling her since I have been? It's just that I'm new to all of this!!! I appreciate everybody's advice and for helping me out. :banana:
It really does depend on some things specific to your snake. Is it a tiny hatchling unused to being handled or is it a big, mature snake that was somebody's pet and it's very used to being handled? Does it have a solid feeding history? Is it showing signs of stress like refusing to eat, constantly slithering around it's enclosure or pushing at it's lid all the time? Is it hissing or striking at you at all? Is it in a tight ball all the time you handle it? Stuff like that.
Personally I like to give any snake, regardless of it's history, at least a week of no handling, no attempts to feed it just to let it settle in. Then I like to get at least a couple or three weeks of good feeds into it before I do any handling other than basic maintenance stuff. I figure you have a good 20 years of handling time with these snakes, why rush it with a snake known to be shy and easily stressed.
Re: How often should I handle my juvenile ball python?
I think you need to base handling off of each individual animal.
ex: My two fires still are stubborn since their arrival.....they are snippy till out of their cage and then very tense for 5 minutes or so and defensive. They will calm but if you adjust position they will get tense and ball or sometimes strike. They are both handled daily except during heavy eye clouding during shed and after feeding. If they were to go off feed I would more then likely back off the handling schedule.
All other 8 bp's appear to have no issue when taken out....that may be once a day, twice a day if company wants to see or the neighborhood kids want to see, or if busy every other day for 10-15 minutes at a time. If they were tense, stressed with this approach I would again back off using their feeding performance as the benchmark. Of course feeding is highly tied into husbandry issues and problems but my environment is well controlled.
In short, you will learn to read your bp, each are different in comfort with handling, some come out of the tub to your hand, others may do a little protest hiss but be fine out of the enclosure, others may look at you like are you sure you want to bring that paw of yours in here? lol
If you learn your snake, read the snakes body language and feel, behavior, you will quickly identify a good routine for each of your animals:)
