Meet Toaster Strudel

[Homebody]

You should consider a choice-based handling approach. When I want to play with my Children’s python, I open the enclosure. If he comes out, we play. If he doesn’t, we don’t. Interacting with your snake when it doesn’t want to interact with you increases the chances of getting bit.

That said, I do sometimes need to handle my snake when he doesn’t want to be handled. This is usually when it comes time for him to return to his enclosure after playtime is over. That’s when the hook training comes in handy.

However, it’s while maintaining his enclosure (e.g. water changes) that I’ve taken the most bites, so I’ve started wearing gloves. I tried letting him see and smell me before reaching into his enclosure to avoid being mistaken for food. This worked well when I could see him. The problem came when I didn’t see him and thought the coast was clear only to have him strike from a hiding place.

I also target train, so you could safely say I take a kitchen sink approach to avoiding bites. All this is probably overkill on my part. My snake is tiny compared to yours. I do it mostly because I like training my snake. It's fun to have a purpose to your interactions. In your case, adopting one or more of the above approaches is more of a necessity.

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Toaster strudel is getting big.

[Bogertophis]

Beautiful snake!

[Homebody]

I just re-read this whole thread. It's so fun to watch him grow. Keep the updates coming.

[Mistery510]

Wow!!!!

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It’s getting difficult to take pictures of her using only one hand/arm lol
(very sorry if this posts multiple times, I keep getting logged out when I try to hit post)

[Bogertophis]

No wonder, that's a hand full (arm full) of snake.

[Gio]

It’s getting difficult to take pictures of her using only one hand/arm lol
(very sorry if this posts multiple times, I keep getting logged out when I try to hit post)

That is a nice size and it appears the disposition is equally nice.

Thanks for the update.