handling

[nichole]

I purchased a young ball python on 2nd and she/he is extremely active I have the humidity and heat were it is supposed to be and two hiding places for her/him and it is not in a room by its self. I check on her three times a day since I got her one being to change her water bowl daily and she ate the second day I got her. I have touched her and petting her in her cage far away from her head and she has not snipped at me at all but she is super super active all the time every time I go and check on her she is every were through her enclosure. I would like to try actually handling her but im not sure if I should? Anyone got any advice?

[h20hunter]

Have you had a succesfull feed?

If yes, I'd say go ahead.

If no, I'd say wait until you have had your bp eat a few times.

I'm still fairly a noob so take my advice as such. Lots of much more experienced folks here that will chime in.

[C2tcardin]

You mentioned she fed so go for it. I try not to handle them if I'm going to be feeding them that night or if they ate in the last 24 to 48 hours, also avoid handling once you notice they are in shed.

[lorenhavens]

Mine is kinda doing the same thing again. She has done this before just a couple days before feeding after the feeding she went back to her self.

[anicatgirl]

They also tend to look for an escape constantly. Mine, if I move anything in her enclosure or change her water she will search it all over to look for an exit for a good while since something changed maybe I left an unnoticed gap .

How big is the tank? If it is a little bitty snake baby he may still be intimidated by the open spaces and need some big paper balls to provide a little more security.

[Sauzo]

Like others have said, if she has eaten and its been 48 hours since she has eaten, I would say go ahead and handle her a little and see how she reacts. If she is scared and balls up, I would probably limit the handling to short amounts to give her time to get used to you.

As for wandering all over all the time, as long as the temps and everything is good, she is probably just getting used to the cage. I just up sized my little girls hides and when it got dark, she was out checking over every inch of both hides. Of course before that she was a slug and I usually only saw her when I actually took her out or she wanted food or smelled a rat, then she would pop out of her old hide looking for dinner.