Hissing or Breathing heavily?

[Elise.m]

So, I've never seen many snakes hiss. I've heard many cats hiss, and that's all I have for comparison.

We haven't handled Snickets yet, but I kinda want to try today even though she's in shed. I was just wondering, when I pick her up is there a good chance she'll exhale deeply so that I'll hear it? I think I've heard her exhale a few times and I didn't know if it was that or a hiss. It sounded more like a breath to me. Also her mouth wasn't open.

I know that even if she gets hissy on me the best thing to do is ignore it so she doesn't start to think hissing will make me go away. I just wanted to know the difference for the sake of knowing.

[Beto510]

possible RI any mucus?

[ApexPredator]

Ball pythons can hiss pretty loudly when disturbed. I have a few that hiss at me ALL the time. It just means the snake is grumpy.

[Elise.m]

no it's not an RI. She's healthy. She hasn't been handled at all but maybe once or twice, and she's almost 3 months old. So the whole handling and people getting near her is still new.

Like I said, I just wanted to know if there's an audible difference between a hiss and a deep breath.

[BallPythonGeek13]

my snake hisses at me somtimes but it's realy low so i can barly hear it