Are ball pythons naturally "curious"?

[rickm]

too many people attach human emotions and characteristics to reptiles. they are simply incapable of it. snakes do not 'like' to be handled for the most part, they tolerate it...I think some of my retics 'want out' and explore...but they are very active snakes and that is just what they do, I don't think they 'are having fun'....most people do not understand their reptiles. reptiles, snakes especially, function in modes. resting mode, feeding mode, defense mode, exploring or 'thinking' mode, ect. this is why a lot of people screw up and get nailed by their retics in my opinion...because a retic has one of the strongest food responses of any snake. while in resting mode, they have a natural hair trigger food response, so if you surprise them and not let they know it is you....you may just be the one surprised. I think most snakes do best when they have a stable environment and have settled in. I do think some snakes are more inquisitive and explore more, but this is only due to them being a more active snake in general. I think ball pythons stress a little easier than some other species...so I would try to get their enclosure perameters set correctly then leave them alone as much as possible. lets be honest, if you are shooting for a nice display enclosure, that very closely resembles their natural habitat, and is set up correctly for a ball python, you will almost never see it. ball pythons live almost all of their lives under ground, deep inside rodent burrows and termite mounds....they are almost never seen above ground in the day light hours unless somebody digs them out. If you want a good naturalistic set up, with an animal that displays well, a ball python is a very poor choice. I would go with a carpet python, super dwarf retic, rat snake, or other species that lays in the open or is active during the day. carpet pythons are awesome display animals, they hang out in the open during the day, and are active in the early morning and evenings...which is great for having in a nice naturalistic enclosure. I wish balls were better display animals, because without a doubt, they come in the best and most colorful mutations....but they just do not make good display animals if you set the enclosure up properly for them.