handling

[Hull357]

im pretty new at the whole snake thing i have owned reptiles all of my life but never a snake before until my pastel. i have had him for about a week and 4 days and have yet to hold him. i figured i have given him long enough to be unstressed he comes out at night and hangs out and sleeps all day. i read that is a really good sign that he is use to his surroundings is this correct? secondly i was going to hold him tonight or would it be recomended to wait till sunday since feeding day is friday? whats the best way to approach the little guy when handling since he has had minum handle time?

[llovelace]

If he's a little one, I'd wait til Sunday to be on the safe side.

[Hull357]

hes not too little hes about 20-24 inches long and probably an inch around

[mommanessy247]

1-2 weeks of no handling for new snakes is good.

no handling during the 2 days following a meal.

no handling when in blue (when the eyes go cloudy blue in shed) cuz they cant see very well & they get really cranky at this stage of a shed cycle.

bp's are nocturnal so its natural they're out cruising at night.

a hiding bp is a happy bp.

[Inknsteel]

I generally recommend waiting until 48 hours after their first successful feed in their new home. After that, you should begin handling gradually, starting with just a few minutes a day as your snake will tolerate. You can slowly increase the time from 5 minutes, to 10 minutes, then 15, etc every few days as long as you and your snake are both comfortable with it. Another thing I recommend is to just learn to read your snake. You will eventually be able to tell when he's fine being handled vs when he doesn't want to be messed with. Just in the beginning, if he starts to get hissy when you take him out, don't immediately put him back in. They will eventually learn that hissing and/or striking will get them put back into their tank or tub, where they really want to be... Again, when you gain more experience in reading your snake's body language, you will know when it's time to end a handling session before it gets to that point...

[Hull357]

thanks for the great advice is it better to handle at night or during the day?

[RetiredJedi]

I handle mine whenever I get the urge (day or night) except for times like everyone else says after they eat or during blue.