Yes, I do mean the 10-14 day period from start to finish. You can handle if you want but I don't handle my ball pythons at all when in shed. I like to leave them alone and let them have time to rest up for the final process of when the skin comes off. I have tried handling in the past during the shed cycle when the eyes are opaque and did not have good results. The snake was very easily scared and timid and hissed at me a lot. I did not want to stress the animal out.