Paul, I'm sure it's not a big deal what time you take him out. If you have an option, of course, you can try to aim for a time when the snake would be awake and active anyhow...but if you don't have that particular time-slot available, I've never read anything anywhere that says gentle, consistent handling of your snake is bad for them if done during the day. If I tried to wait for Caesar to be "up" from always sleeping...I'd never get him out. I figure if he gets to sleep the other 23 hours a day, then it won't hurt him to be up with me whichever hour I choose. LOL