Handling A Ball Pythons

[Caali]

I am curious.

What is your opinion on handling your ball python or your pet snake in general?
What do you think are the pros and cons?

I haven't handled mine at all because I don't want to stress him out. The only time I take him out is when I have to clean his terrarium and/or when I need to weigh him.

[Joci]

I think there’s nothing wrong with it as long as you watch out for signs of stress, that’s when you put them back.

[SDA]

I wrote a post a little while ago on my attempts at positive conditioning mine to come to the open door when he wants out. It means he only comes out and gets handled when he is in the mood to and doesn't when he is not. The only time I handle mine is between feedings and when not in shed and only when he is out and makes the effort to come to me.

It has seemed to work out well so far and he has been far more active when out now that we are learning together this sort of grand experiment of "can ball pythons be trained?"

My feelings are you can break the will of any animal to force them to be hand tame but it isn't the way I treat my pets so I only handle when they want to be handled, not when I want their attention. If that means going weeks between handling then that means going weeks

[redshepherd]

There are different answers depending on the snake species, so the answers for ball pythons doesn't apply to all snakes. Your use of "pet snake" in the poll is too general.

My ball pythons could be handled every day for 10~20 minutes (except for the feeding/digesting days) and they would be fine. It can also vary depending on the individual snake- some of them are more nervous and get stressed easily.

I consider over-handling taking them out multiple times a day, or having them out for an hour at a time.

[oodaT]

I have 2 that i recently got, they are both 900+ grams, previous owner handle them a good bit and let them roam around her snake room when cleaning etc. So those 2 i have been handling daily for 10-15 mins just so they are getting use to me and ill work them up to longer times if they feel up to it. My babies on the other hand, only handling them when spot cleaning etc, maybe once a week for about 15 mins. They all seem to let me know when they are ready to go back to hiding as they try to go in my shirt, under my arm as im holding them etc.

Think it just comes down to learning each snake individually. If their being flighty, alot of tongue flicking or very little, etc. Some may be very comfortable out for periods of time, some may not.

My 150g lesser loves to be out, he'll slither right out on to my arm and coil around when i open his tub(not atm tho as he's in shed haha).

[Newbie39]

I handle mine between feeds. Basically twice a week for 10 to 15 minutes. She was waiting tonight. I lifted the lid a she came out. Each time she gets weighed. Depending on her mood I let my kids hold her. I want her to learn all of their smells. And like other say I pay attention to her. When she is done checking us out and looking to hide I put her back in. She normally goes back into the hide for a few minutes then goes into her night mode of wondering around and chilling out of hide.

[BeelzeBall.]

only time i handle mine is when its clean up time.

[Momokahn]

All 3 of mine are handled on a daily basis for as long as I like and depending on what I have going on dictates how long I hold each one. Even on feeding day, I will handle mine and less than an hour after handled they will all eat except for 2 of them when they are in shed (yes I have always handled mine during shed). After they eat, I don't handle them but will handle them the next day before the 24 hour clock elapses or was that the 36 or 48 hour clock.

[cletus]

I handle my boas more than the ball pythons. My girlfriend likes the BPs more.

[Godzilla78]

It seems for ball pythons, frequency is preferred over duration of handling. They seem to respond very well to frequent, but short-term handling and not so well to infrequent, longer duration handling sessions. Which works for me.