Too soon to handle?

[QueenB]

This might be a silly question, but anyways here's the deal: my BP went off food for about a month and last week he ate normally, but yesterday when I gave him a mouse, he wouldn't feed. I know that they go off food sometimes and I'm not worried about that at all.
My question here is: can I handle him today as he didn't eat yesterday, or should I just leave him alone (to not stress him out or idk)?

[Jessimica]

Handling can stress him out but as long as you don't overdo it (try to avoid more than a few times a week, and right before/after feeding) then you should be fine.

One of my pueblan milk snakes went off feed for 6 months, and she was a tiny little thing. I'm sure he will be okay

[Tigerhawk]

Yes you should be fine,with light handling as mentioned above. A month with out eating is really no big issue. It seems that yours is on it's way back to normal feeding, in the near future. I have one that went nine month's with out eating. Now he's doing fine and eating normally for him anyway.

[kiiarah]

I have seen the recommendation to not handle the day of feeding (to avoid stress based refusal) and to wait 24-48 hours after they eat. In the same position, I would probably handle lightly provided that you are not planning on feeding him until the next scheduled feeding day. I gave Shesha three days before feeding with no handling at all the first time he refused food. He was not eating well yet so I was a bit more concerned about it than you would need to be if he is a solid feeder and weighs a good amount. Usually I go by the snakes signs for the most part. If he is out and about I am less reluctant to take him out of his enclosure than if he is hiding. If he is being handled and I notice that he is searching for places to hide I put him back but if he is just extending his neck and calmly exploring, and I am seeing lots of tongue flicking, steady and calm breathing, and no hyperactivity I figure he is handling it fine. My understanding is that zero tongue flicking paired with excessive movement is a sign that a snake is frightened, as of course would be tight balling. My inclination would be that you could safely give it a try but I would definitely watch closely for signs of stress just in case.

[WarriorPrincess90]

Personally, if any of my animals go off feed, I don't touch, hold, or bother them at all unless cleaning becomes necessary until they have eaten 3 times consecutively. It generally solves the feeding problem.

[albinos_rule]

I personally think the "hands off" line of thinking is baloney, but if that is what it takes to get your snake eating then I guess that is what you have to do

[WarriorPrincess90]

I'm speaking from experience regarding my animals. One of my snakes I have owned for almost 5 years now. I used to hold him a couple times a week whether he was eating or not. The more I learned, the more I understood it may not be in his best interest. When I stopped handling or bothering him during fasts, the fasts became shorter and shorter. Now, he is still a mouser, but a mouse pounding Monster. And I have not had an issue keeping my snakes eating weekly anymore. I get the occasional refusal. Everyone does. But it's rare. I'd rather have my animals eating regularly than coddle them when they refused their last feeding. Just my two cents.

[Eric Alan]

I personally think the "hands off" line of thinking is baloney, but if that is what it takes to get your snake eating then I guess that is what you have to do

If it's baloney, but that's what it takes to get your snake eating, then how is it baloney?

[Viol8r]

We handle ours all the time. I bought my wife a female bumblebee she had to have. It didn't eat the first 3 weeks of being in it's new home. She held it a couple times the first week and almost everyday since. the 4th week it ate a rat pink, the 5th 2 rat pinks, the 6th a rat pup, the 7th 2 rat pups. She hasn't stopped eating. All my others eat weekly unless they're shedding, and most of the time they'll eat then too.

[QueenB]

I tried handling him that day and he seemed to be okay with it as far as I can tell. I guess I thought since he didn't eat that he would be agitated and it would be better to leave him alone, but I gave it a try and it turned out fine (and now I feel a bit silly asking that in the first place ).
I even let my 4-year-old nephew handle him today for the first time and it also went very well, both for the snake and the kid.
Anyway, thanks for all the replies guys!