Apollo is not being a good boy and he looks pink.

[Bogertophis]

So now that I’ve added a few more snakes to the collection and have a really docile mystic ghost bp, I’ve decided I’m going to take it super slow with Apollo. I’m going to try just lifting his hide and standing by the cage for a few days. Then I will touch him for a few days. And then I will finally pick him up for short periods of time. I think by going this slow it will help introduce me as not a predator.


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Re "lifting his hide and standing by the cage..." -that may or may not get you the response you're after -many years ago when I was in a local pet store (where they
knew me well as an experienced snake-keeper) they asked me to take a look at a rat snake they had trouble with, always biting them when they tried to take it out to
show. Obviously this kept killing their sale. What they were doing "wrong" was taking the hide away, then trying to pick up the snake: from the snake's perspective
a huge scary predator was coming right at him & now he had nowhere to hide! Panic! Not a "mean snake" at all: all I did was slide my hand under the hide to gently
touch & then lift out the snake...he never bit me, & never got upset, though I'm sure he was surprised, lol. That was a yearling Everglades rat snake by the way...I ended
up taking the little cutie home. (I'm an easy sell for rat snakes, lol.) Anyway, you are welcome to try what you described...snakes aren't all the same, but remember their
best senses are touch & scent...the way I gently touched that snake told him I wasn't a threat. When a snake gets to know you, they'll recognize your scent & that can be
used to reassure them (from a little distance) when you approach also.

You aren't the only one that doesn't feel comfortable risking a bite, that's why many like to use a small snake hook (or really anything similar, even the cardboard tube
from a roll of paper towels) just to gently touch the snake without getting "within range". Just pay close attention to his reactions, that will tell you if you're on the right
track.