On Monday, I experienced my first ever Hissy fit. It would have probably been pretty comical if anyone was there to see me, since like a total goof, I had no idea what was going on at first. I went to get her out, and I reached behind her, and started to slowly slide my hand under her, when I heard, (and I could swear I felt,) something different. I'm so used to my corns that don't hiss, so at first I had no idea what I was hearing, and my first reaction was to wonder what the heck got into her enclosure! I was all freaked out, like what's in there with my baby? And I was looking around her, and under her, and then she did it again, and I realized it WAS her. Duh! I was so caught off guard, and felt like such a dummy, I just set her back down, and left her alone for the rest of the day. I checked her heat and humidity levels, to be sure she wasn't trying to tell me something about those. Her humidity was a bit on the low side, so I added more damp moss for her, but other than that everything seemed fine. So I am guessing she hissed just because I was picking her up? I felt kind of nervous, wondering if I did the right thing. With the corn snakes, I don't put them down and leave them alone when they threaten me, because I know they will learn that the threat works then, and keep doing it, as where if they learn that it doesn't work, and I will hold them any way, they kind of give up on it. Are ball pythons like that as well? I did decide to try again yesterday, and I picked her up with no problem. She sat curled up in my hand for a bit, not hiding her head or anything, just looking around, and eventually started slowly roaming around on me, sniffing at everything, and doing her little periscope thing. She seems to love looking at my face when I talk to her. Sometimes she will even stick her head out of her hide if I am standing by her enclosure and talking to her.
So what do you guys think? Was she just having a pissy moment, and wanted to be left alone on Monday? Is it fine that I let her be? Is this a normal ball python thing, that they just do sometimes, or did I make some mistake I'm missing? Any tips on getting her used to regular handling? I'd like to get her used to it now, while she's still small, (she's 3 months old) rather than be trying to work with a large, crabby adult. Is that fine?
Thanks for your help, everyone.