We had a boa when I was a kid and a few months ago out of nowhere I decided I wanted a snake. I went to a well-established exotic pet store in town and walked out with an approximately 5 month old male BP.

Things have gone great and we're absolutely in love with the little guy. Everything I read suggests that he's a model BP - in that he never has those problems.
* He always eats right away.
* He exhibits no aggressive behavior even when disturbed at bad times (post-feed, in-blue, pre-poop).
* I took him back in after a few months and the guy at the pet store said he looked great - and I couldn't disagree.

But....his behavior has changed in the last month.

When I first got him he would come out of his hide box every night at about 10pm or so like clockwork and cruise his cage. He'd often lay stretched out in a location that made him easy to pick up and would make no effort to prevent it. In fact, he would sort of lie real still as you put your hand in as if he was co-operating with you. The only times he would stay holed up were:
* 2-3 day break post-feed.
* roughly 7 days for shed cycle.
* 2 days pre-poop. And, he was always extra active after the poops.
We went through several feeds, two or three poops, and one shed this way.

Then after one of his feeds his normal digestion period went by and no Snakey. After a couple more days I inspected him and he was in-blue. So then I waited until he shed about a week later and still no Snakey. I inspected him again and he was getting fat at his vent. So then I waited a few more days and sure enough, he pooped. But then he just continued being reclusive for good!!

I've fed him since and he ate just fine. We moved his cage to a quieter part of the house. I checked his temperatures and his cage was a bit cool so I corrected that. But he still just hides out all the time! If I open his hide box he'll ball up but as soon as I take him out he relaxes right away. I can hold him just like before and when I put him back he remains active for the night.

So my angst is coming from the fact that I always have to extract him from his hide box now.

Am I being too uptight? Many people don't seem to think it matters to much when you pull them out.

He always seemed kind of fun when I had him out but the "Ball Python Manual" has me scared that he's stressed out whenever he moves around.

Am I crazy? Am I doing something wrong?