Best times to handle? Tips?

[Albert Clark]

I've been having a similar issue, but my BP has been with me for 3 months. I handle him about three times a week, for around 30 minutes each time, one of those times is to feed. He eats fine every week and his husbandry is good. But I find that he's still super reclusive and head shy. He'll crawl about on my person, but the second I set him down on the carpet or on the coffee table he just sits there looks tense and weird until I pick him up again. Once I go to put him in his tank, he's all gung ho about it and quickly goes back into his tank. Is this pretty normal?

PS: I don't mean to hijack your post, I just have a similar issue.

How old is he? And I would limit holdings to 15 mins and no more for now. Definitely no handling him when he is recently fed or when in the hide. Try not to lift the hide off of him and pick him up. Just wait for him to crawl out on his own. IMO, it's ok to lift the hide up to check on him but I would refrain from picking him up at that time. Just replace the hide. Most snakes don't enjoy being held contrary to belief they tolerate it until they have had enough, thus the tenseness and weird looks.