you might need to just let him get used to the ball for a while. See retics are alot faster and more curious then ball pythons and sometimes they move so quickly it does make you jump. Ive had oskar come at my face so fast I thought he was striking but he was just trying to figure out what I was doing. I mean you can try to get him to handle a large snake but it may just frighten him even more. A great starter snake that doesnt get as big as giants is redtails they still get a decent size with some good girth but they are still managable. But im free monday and tuesday if you guys want to drive down and he can handle a giant if he feels comfortable with it. If not I have plenty of baby burms and a baby retic.