Difference between exploring, hunting, and being stressed

[Zincubus]

I'm liking this thread!

Reminds me of a few of my handling sessions I had with pet store snakes I visited (don't worry I have no intention of buying from them). There were atleast two occasions where the ball pythons I held seemed pretty chill, roaming around me with polite little tongue flicks, pretty smooth cruising. But at soon as the worker took them and put them back in their enclosure they started to wig out a bit. Some head shaking, no tongue flicking and looked like they were trying to scramble back up the worker's arm and avoid being put back in. Everything in their body language sorta screamed "escape!"

One of the two, once situated in the tank, kept restlessly roaming and glass surfing. The other just sat still and eventually went back in its hide (if I can even call it that). Granted I know the way pet stores keep their reptiles is less than ideal, but I can't help but be curious of the behavior and the sudden gear shift. Was it because they thought the worker was going to drop them?

I'd agree totally ... This thread is very thought provoking isn't it !?

It's gonna take me a while to read through all the comments and process everything