Handling A Ball Pythons

[B.P.'s 4me]

My b.p. was handled a lot before I purchased him and seems to enjoy it. I've never heard him hiss, nor does he act stressed or uncomfortable. Having said that, over the past few days I believe he's in "pre shed" and is spending all of his time in his hides... which is out of character for him. That being the case, I haven't handled him at all, just check that he's o.k. and leave him alone. I've only had him for a couple of weeks so we don't know each other that well yet, but I try my best to try to understand what he's comfortable with.
I think it's good for them to get out of their enclosure occasionally to stretch muscles that may not otherwise get the same range of motion and to be stimulated a bit. In the wild I'm sure they spend most of their time in their burrows but they would travel distances hunting and would experience different terraine textures etc. Not sure if I'd feel the same with a nervous and/or aggressive snake, some may be happy being an "observation only" pet.

[the_rotten1]

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.

Agreed. There are huge differences among the species I own. Out of all of them, I have to say the Rosy Boas seem to enjoy handling the most. They're always eager to explore and often end up flicking their tongues right in my face. Corns and hogs would be a close second. I don't know if the corns enjoy being out, but they don't seem to mind at all. Hognoses really love to explore once you get them out, but they can be a bit handshy in their tubs.

For the most part, my ball pythons don't seem to mind being handled. I only handle them once a week, aside from cleaning, and don't handle them at all while feeding or in shed. I spend a little quality time with them and then they've got the rest of the week to themselves, more or less.

I'd rate my Mexican Black Kings as least interested in being handled. My yearling male has tamed down, so he tolerates it well, but I don't think he enjoys it.

The way you handle a snake is more important than how long or how often. Brief sessions are best for skittish snakes. Balls like to hide. I think my BPs would be more comfortable spending an hour curled up in my lap than 15 minutes in someone's hands, arms, or slinged around a neck. The Rosys, Corns, and Hogs are fine exploring for awhile. Never tried letting my MBKs free-roam. I'm sure they'd make a quick getaway.

[PythonBabes]

I say handling is for your benefit/enjoyment and yours only. Ball pythons do not 'like' or enjoy being handled, they merely tolerate it. They'd be perfectly fine if you never handled them at all.

That being said, I handle my ball python maybe once every two weeks. Handling for me isn't even really holding him and all that. It's just letting him out and explore and me watching him. I absolutely love watching him and prefer that over holding him. He gets held when I take him out of the cage and of course cleanings.

And despite rarely being actually handled he remains completely docile and will even let me stroke his head if I'm careful and not too fast-moving.

[Coluber42]

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

This is essentially what I do. If he's hanging around by the door, I let him out. If he's awake when I'm hanging around in the living room, I open the door and if he feels like it he comes out. He does like to go on a tour of the living room every evening, at least in the summer when the living room is a pretty comfortable place for him. In the winter it's not quite as appealing!
If he comes out on his own, he always gets picked up at some point and sometimes I bring him with me while puttering around the house if he's not ready to go back in - meaning, I hold him up next to the door and let him go back if he wants. If he's had enough, he goes back on his own. Sometimes I have to just put him back because I have to go to bed or whatever. Especially in the summer though (when the house is at least warm and humid enough for his comfort, if a little too much so for ours), I see no problem in letting him roam the living room for an hour or two if he wants.

I'm pretty sure he gets that we're connected with the doors opening. Sometimes when he sees us enter the room, he'll come out of his hide and start nosing at the door to be let out.

When he's in shed or heading toward blue, he doesn't particularly want to come out, so I don't make him unless there's some reason in particular like cleaning or doing something to his cage.

I figure that when it's his choice, handling and exploring time is good exercise and enrichment. If I just haul him out whenever I feel like it whether he's in the mood or not, it's more likely to be a cause of stress or reinforce negative associations with being handled.

[honeybee]

I handle mine around 4 times a week, and I leave him alone 2 days after feeding and while he's shedding. He's super docile and relaxed when I handle, but after 15-20 minutes he likes to tuck his head into my sleeve, which tells me he wants to hide and thus I put him back in his enclosure. I've been very lucky with my one bp and he's never shown any defensive action, even when I'm reaching into his hide to take him out. He also lets me stroke his head.

But I do believe handling is entirely for my benefit. I know he doesn't 'like' it, he's just alright with it and tolerates it. I think handling can be really enriching for the owner. For the snake (and most reptiles) however, I think at best they tolerate it and at worst it stresses them out. It's really all about reading your individual snake, read their body language when you have them out, and when/if they appear stressed, pop em back into their home

[MmmBanana]

I handle my snakes, but I know they would be 100% content without me holding or interacting with them at all. Outside of feeding and maintaining their enclosures. I only own BPs and even when handling them, all they really do is look for somewhere to hide lol.

[elleon]

I try to handle my BP on a somewhat regular basis. I feed on Mondays, and will usually try to hold him Thursday and Saturday. I wait to see if he's out and about in his tank first, though, since I don't like stealing him from his hide. At the very least, I'll pull him out Saturday to weigh him quickly, so I know he's eating the right size food. I think it's probably a good idea to hold your snake, especially a BP, so they can get more used to it. Since they would definitely prefer to be left alone, if you ever want to be able to hold them without stressing them out a lot, I think you would have to work them up to it. That may also make things like vet trips less stressful for them, and allows you to check on their physical health (belly looks good, face looks good, etc.) It also seems like good exercise for them, though I have a climby branch in his tank so he doesn't really need me for that either. I can see the pros and cons, but I think the benefits outweigh the downsides when it comes to holding your BP.

[JodanOrNoDan]

All of mine get handled on a regular basis. Some more than others. The amount of handling and how they are handled varies with the animal. My kids play house with the snakes, build them forts, let barbies take a ride... I draw the line when I see one of them go running down the hallway with one of my highways in tow. Most of my animals are pretty bomb proof. I do have a couple of purchased animals that do not seem to want to chill out though. They were purchased as adults and I have had them for a few years. They very rarely want a piece of me anymore unless I startle them, but they are not and I believe never will be good "pets". No amount of handling or not handling makes a difference in their behavior other than that they have learned that biting me does not get them anywhere.

[Jus1More]

I handle my 2 boys once a week but only for a short period of time. My oldest one has it down to where he will pee on you if you handle fhim or to long... What a little terd he can be!!

[Virgil]

I think it depends on the ball python, their personality, and their tolerances.

I've had my Virgil since he was six weeks old, and I've done my best to bombproof him. As a teacher, I want a calm snake that I can occasionally bring to the classroom for educational purposes. He comes out 2-3 times a week, never on the day of or 48 hours after feeding, and never during shed. I open up the door, and if he wants out, then he'll slither up my arm or out of the tank. Most of the time, he's around my neck, his head on my right arm, tongue flicking as I do my chores. Sometimes, I let him slither a bit on the floor, but as soon as he wants to hide, back it is into his tank. He enjoys short extrusions with some periscoping and always tongue flicking. Virgil's a curious fellow. He is usually out for about 15-45 minutes, depending on his mood that day. Sometimes, he'll try to slither up my arm to get back out when I'm placing him back in his tank. Sometimes, he just wants a quick trip to the kitchen before he's trying to hide in my shirt. It depends on the day.

I mentioned that I want to use him for classroom visits (I have already taken him to a 1st grade classroom with minimal stress, only a few kids at a time got to see him, and only one at a time got to pet, with only one finger, body only). This is where I believe that, frankly, I teach him tolerance not for his own enrichment but for my own more selfish reasons. Since I've had him since he was a babe, I've successfully gotten him used to being touched in most places, including his head, although he doesn't like his neck touched and I'm very aware of that. I can boop his nose and even give him the occasional slow-mo kiss on the head without him drawing back. I also flip him over once or twice while he's out to practice showing off his belly (kids like to see his freckles), which I think frustrates him, but he slowly just rights himself and I let him continue to do whatever he would prefer.

Plus, classroom aside, I simply love handling him. He's my pet, first and foremost.