A snake has such a small head, I wonder about its brain

[WingedWolfPsion]

Would you say, then, that a ball python that has not been fully tamed (can't trust it around your kids) by the age of a year will never be fully tamed? Or can a snake still calm down with frequent, gentle handling even past the age of one year? I'm just curious because the little guy I have still goes into strike mode when I open his tub. He's better about hissing and he's ok when I hold him, but he's fast approaching his first birthday and I doubt I'll have him at the level my other snake is by then.

If the animal has been worked with at all, has had its cage cleaned, been fed, and been handled at least enough to take its measurements regularly...
Then at 1 year of age, if it is still striking and isn't trustworthy when handled, I think I would consider it to have a bad temperament. In other words, you can probably make it a bit tamer, but you probably will never be able to make it trustworthy.

If the animal really hasn't been worked with at all, then it may need to be tamed--worked with to settle it down. A wild ball python is likely to be nervous and nippy because it's never been around humans before, and doesn't know that it won't be harmed, yet.

I disagree with the definition of tameness one poster presented. An animal that has lost its fear of humans and allows itself to be handled is tame. An animal that has lost its fear of humans, and allows itself to be handled sometimes, but will bite if it's in a bad mood, has a bad temperament.
Dictionary definition of tame: "Reduced from a state of native wildness and shyness; accustomed to man".

I've never seen any sign that my ball pythons care which human is holding them. Some individual people can approach and handle them WRONG, and make them more nervous and upset as a result, but it has nothing to do with the snake recognizing those individuals. I think snakes are capable of recognizing individuals, but I think they rarely care. <lol>