Squeezing a ball Python

[Dmallsick]

Can you squeeze a ball Python too hard? I feel like I broke her and I heard some popping and stuff she's my first snake. Also she pulled down the wire and got tangled a little and tried to push through and when I tried to help her she went even harder, this is where I thought I broke her and the wire left red marks as if you were to pinch your own skin and it left some lines too like the lines you have on your face or body when you have a good nap yenno? I'm surprised she hasn't tried to bite me or anything, she looks more like she wants to escape or scared but never defensive or never wants to bite. She's a Bel so the red line marks were very noticeable, I got her 3 days ago and probably stressed her out all 3 days, if I leave her alone for 7 more days would that reset the fact that I pissed her off

[Craiga 01453]

Yes, you can squeeze a BP too hard. Skeletally they are basically a long series of ribs, which can be fragile.

Since you just got the snake 3 days ago you should be leaving the snake alone to settle in and acclimate. No handling at all.

I highly suggest following the 3 meal "rule". No handling at all until the animal has eaten 3 consecutive meals without refusal. So that means at LEAST 3 weeks. And unless the animal eats consistently without refusal, that means longer.

But, you'll want to check the snake for injuries...
So...take the snake out and put her on her back. If she rights herself quickly she's probably ok, just monitor the situation.

[Moose84]

This sounds like a mess. What happened? Did the snake escape? If so you will need to button that up ASAP. This comment is just all over the place. Please clarify.

[Bogertophis]

Can you squeeze a ball Python too hard? I feel like I broke her and I heard some popping and stuff she's my first snake. Also she pulled down the wire and got tangled a little and tried to push through and when I tried to help her she went even harder, this is where I thought I broke her and the wire left red marks as if you were to pinch your own skin and it left some lines too like the lines you have on your face or body when you have a good nap yenno? I'm surprised she hasn't tried to bite me or anything, she looks more like she wants to escape or scared but never defensive or never wants to bite. She's a Bel so the red line marks were very noticeable, I got her 3 days ago and probably stressed her out all 3 days, if I leave her alone for 7 more days would that reset the fact that I pissed her off

Yes, you can injure (even kill) a snake by squeezing it. You can break ribs, for example, which can puncture her internal organs & she could bleed to death internally.

You should NEVER pull on a snake that is going where you don't want it to go...you can try to gently hold to prevent it from going further while you hope it changes it's
mind, but this is still risky. Pulling on a snake can dislocate all sorts of body parts...again, this can hurt or kill them.

When you first get a snake, it should be left alone (NO handling) while it settles in...new homes are very unsettling (frightening!) to a snake...they don't understand how
their entire world just disappeared & changed. It will take some time before most relax enough to eat, & handling them will delay this process, which is bad because a
snake that doesn't eat for a long time can become weak. Stress & insufficient food makes any creature (snakes included) more likely to become sick, & when you get a
snake from a pet store (I'm assuming???) they've already been thru a great deal of stress & have been exposed to germs from all sorts of other creatures...so they are
at a greater risk. Rest with no handling so they start eating sooner rather than later are what your goals should be, & as Craig said, it's best they be allowed at least 3
meals before you do ANY handling. Yes, you blew it...let's hope you have another chance to get this right, that your snake isn't seriously injured.

I truly hope that your snake is OK...the only thing you should be doing with a new snake pet is keeping them on white paper towels & checking them, the paper and their
water bowl for any snake mites. Mites are tiny blood-sucking insects that can reproduce incredibly fast & kill a snake (by dehydration, heart & circulatory system failure
& kidney failure), so if you see any tiny moving specks (red, brown or black) about the size of the point of a pin, you'll need to treat for mites too. I sure hope not!

Letting your snake rest now is what I'd recommend...& keep an eye on her (post pics if you can of these red marks?), she needs to recover from what you've been doing-
let's hope she CAN recover. If she is injured internally, she won't want food. If she is stressed (& I guarantee she IS!) she's not going to eat for a long while, especially
if you keep bothering her.

Her cage is a whole other subject: she needs the right temperatures, suitable hides, etc. Something tells me you might not have this dialed in either.

Anyway... I hope we can help you turn this into success at keeping a ball python after this rocky start.

[Bogertophis]

One other thing to check on (to see if she is actually injured & needs vet care) is to watch how she moves...when she is making "S" moves
with her body, look to see if any area is dented inward ("concave") as she goes forward. Be very gentle about encouraging her to move,
but if something doesn't look right she may have broken ribs...and you want to KNOW this because she shouldn't be handled near such
injuries while she heals. If she has broken ribs, they'll have to heal in place, but you don't want them to be pushed further into her organs
...as I said, that can be serious & even deadly, besides being painful. Not all snakes bite when in pain...some are very stoic...it's up to you
to be careful with a snake. Hoping she's OK, but without seeing her, no way to know what all happened.

[AbsoluteApril]

I had a small boa once get her head stuck in the round loop at the end of some plastic plants (I now make sure to cut those ahead of time). I could not push her head out of it so I had to get scissors and cut it off which squished her head even more. She ended up with dark marks on the sides of her face where the loop had been (probably similar to the red line marks you see on yours). They faded a bit with time but never fully went away.
The other advise given about the squeezing is good, see how she moves. You can take her to a vet for xray, prices vary but it's not too bad from some vets.
I hope your little one is okay!

[Dmallsick]

If she was injured she wouldn't eat right? She ate perfect but she never balls up and she's always hiding and when I take her hide off her, she will spread out.. Idk what that's about but yeah

[Dmallsick]

No she was tangled inside the cage with the zoomed thermo/hygro cords in the cage lmao

[Dmallsick]

What does it mean if I handle her like 3 times a day and chill in front of her cage when I'm not doing anything and then feed her and she takes it fast on her first meal after being in glass from a tub? N ya yer right my temps are trash i woke up and she was a frozen brick of ice so I put her under her hot hide and when I checked on her she was cooking. Jesus I just went in to help her there are cords in caged you know. She got scared cause she was new but after all that I think she knows I helped her she never balls up never bit me yet and she ate perfectly, scared me though

[Dmallsick]

She's moving fine and everything I guess that squeeze just scared me I don't really know how rough you can be or how gentle you need to be when handling a ball Python you don't know what's what and you hear sounds and she's moving all over the place you just don't know when you're a beginner but she ate easy so that should be a good sign