First Baby BP Questions. Help!

[Dianne]

I’ve also recently acquired 3 hatchling balls this year - 2 purchased on 7/21/18, both hatched in July as well (lemonblast and pied), and a 2-3 month old BEL purchased on 8/25/18. I haven’t had much in the way of nippiness, just a couple of non-contact lunges from Belle, my lemonblast. What I did have was feeding issues with Belle, so I haven’t been handling her unless I need to clean the cage.

When I do handle her, it’s not more than 5 minutes before I put her back in her cage. She’s eaten live fuzzies consecutively for the last 3 weeks, but because I had her a month before she would eat, I’m keeping handling to a minimum. The other two are handled for just a few minutes every week or so, 5-10 minutes tops. They were nervous at first, tense and balled up, but all of them are now much calmer. They’re still very still when I first pick them up, but quickly start cruising around with tongue flicks at everything.

My main goal is to let them have brief interaction to teach them that I’m not a threat. As they get a little larger and are eating regularly, I’ll handle them for longer periods but still only once per week, usually on the weekend. I feed them on Wednesday, when the live feeders come in. That gives them time to digest before handling, then uninterrupted quiet time before feeding time rolls around again.