Does anyone not leave new snakes alone for a week?

[fluffpuffgerbil]

I know the main reason is for them to settle in, but what if they don't get stressed from being held? Does anyone skip the 7 day rule? Just curious.... Just a question that came to mind. I know a lot of people say to keep them in for a week, but I know there are some of you who skip that rule. I want to know what you have to say about why you do! :3

[RetiredJedi]

So far I have left all three of mine alone for a week to get them acclimated no matter how hard it was to do, so I can't speak about that. I have seen some people that say there BP seemed ok and fed them 2 days after getting them home with no ill effects. There's really no way of saying for sure that nothing will or won't happen and you may end up beating yourself up because your new BP is stressed out and roams around it's tub all the time and then won't eat. Again not saying it will or won't happen because each one is different.

[purplemuffin]

We had a lot of trouble following the rule, and actually broke it. We regret it because he never acclimated well to his enclosure and it took him a lot longer to eat for us(It was bad enough he was in winter fast when we bought him. Add stress of new home and then being handled and put back and forth into the new home to being handled again etc. etc. etc...) and it was actually a few months before he would eat--live or f/t. We didn't know what we were doing and didn't know about reptile forums, only caresheets so we struggled. When we stopped handling he actually calmed down(he was prone to striking and hissing at anything) and finally settled into his home. Since then the only time he has hissed has been when I frightened him(was pulling out his waterbowl, it slipped out of my hand. He was sleeping in his hide when he was hit by the wave of water and was not pleased. We replaced the water and got him dry paper towels and he was good as new

Of course, our male was wild caught--We didn't realize it at the time, nor did we realize why it would be a bad idea. We just saw ball pythons and we had been doing research on them and decided we wanted one. We just assumed he was a breeder. Some snakes do fine, some don't. The rule just is a guideline..some snakes need more, some less..But if you wait 7 days you can feel more confident you have a snake that is okay in their new home!

[DakotaB]

Mine was handled from the second i got him home and ate very well the next day. Hes been a awsome eater as well. Doesnt strike or hiss.

I guess it just depends on the snake.

[fluffpuffgerbil]

Yes, right now she's roaming around her tub. I've only held her for less than 10 minutes total today and am trying to leave her alone. I want her to feel comfortable in her tub. Thanks for the reply. (I've never left an animal alone for a week, so it'll be really tough.)

[fluffpuffgerbil]

Didn't see the posts after RetiredJedi's!

My girl when I've held her at the expo, car, and at home hasn't hiss, striked, or balled at all. She's a little head shy, but that's normal for BPs.
Right now she's in her hotside hide with her head poking out..

[FkNdRk]

I think I got pretty lucky, I brought Cid home and held him for a bit, then put him in his enclosure. He meandered for a bit then went straight into the hot side hide. 2 hours later I tossed a rat pup in there and he gobbled it up quickly. No issues or anything.

[fluffpuffgerbil]

That seems to be how my snake is acting. I'll hold her for a bit, she'll wander around, then eventually go into her hot hide and sleep.
Haven't tried feeding yet, since I don't have any f/t rats yet. She was fed 2 days before I got her, the breeder told me that she would need fed in 3-5 days, but another breeder we were talking to about food for the snakes said to just wait until the weekend and offer a f/t rat pup.
She was on live rat pinks, but she's big enough she can eat day old rat pinks I guess. I just need to find somewhere to buy them.
Does anyone know if petsmart/petco has rat pinks, FT?

[RetiredJedi]

I haven't seen rat pinks at the big chain store. I got mine at a local store then ordered them from mice direct and picked them up at Repticon.

[fluffpuffgerbil]

Okay, I was thinking buying them from Rodentpro, but I don't need 100 of them!
I was thinking of just getting a few to make sure she'll eat them.

I found someone on craigslist who has live and ft rats and mice. The prices seem a little high for me, ($1.50 for one pink) and IDK if it's smart to buy them off someone on craigslist.
Here;s the add: http://portland.craigslist.org/clk/pet/2535482051.html

It doesn't look odd or anything. I also know the place in Portland has them. Well, I'm pretty sure they do. House of Reptiles, but Idon't really want to drive that far.
I could email the guy there and ask his prices if he has an email.