Quote Originally Posted by Skiploder View Post
I'm not saying that everyone should wait seven days. I'm just advocating that it's a relatively painless way to INSURE that there are no issues acclimating new arrivals.
To use your own argument against you, how do you know that 7 days is enough? Maybe you need to wait a month. Maybe you should wait until their first shed. Maybe you should never handle them at all to avoid the fact that you might stress them out. What made 7 days the magic number?

My point is, either you're right and you can never have any way of knowing if they're stressed, or you have to admit to one of the following:
1) Acknowledge that there are external signs of stress to indicate when a snake wants to be left alone
2) Admit that some stress may be present, but it likely not that harmful as long as the snake is acting "normal"

Either way, I think as long as your snake isn't trying to attack you constantly, is eating, and isn't trying to kill itself to escape, it means you're probably ok.