Ball Python handling

[Craiga 01453]

Thank you everyone for the responses! I will keep all of this in mind! Out of curiousity, scientifically, is there a reason why handling them sometimes makes them not eat? Is it due to stress?

Yup, exactly. A stressed snake will typically refuse food. Think of it like this... That snake is still tiny and sees just about everything, including you, as a potential predator. So if you're handling the snake too often or before settled in and acclimated you're basically a scary predator that the snake may need to escape from. Without the added weight of prey or added stress of digestion a snake can escape more easily. So essentially, the snake won't eat in case it needs to escape the scary predator, which would be you.

[GoingPostal]

Don't handle a snake for a couple days after they eat, digestion is a huge process that's very hard on their systems and you can trigger a regurgitation by bothering them during that. I wait 2-3 days after a meal depending on its size. With a new snake it's best to hold off on handling altogether until they have eaten for you reliably several times. I usually take my snakes out for short periods, let them stretch out and explore, check them all over and then back up after 5-20 minutes. Like you said, they aren't dogs or cats that enjoy or need attention from us, they'd rather be left alone.