Tips on handling a jumpy/defensive ball python?

[Shadowy]

I'm not the most experienced here, but this is what I've done for mine.

Incidentally, how big is this BP?

My shy ones seemed to snap out of it by 300-400g without intervention so far and behave more calmly.

But when I handled them, I was calm but deliberate about picking up. When possible, I reached from the side or behind them. Once in hand, most of mine reflexively ball up, and I just hold them cupped between my hands like a small, dark hide until I feel them relax or they decide to push out of my fingers (or if it's been 5 minutes or so without change in body tenseness, I'll just set them back down for the day).

Alternatively, I set them on my lap and cover lightly with a blanket and set my hands around their body for security for 5-10 minutes. Eventually they learn my smell or get more comfortable and start poking out from under it to explore and seem less scared.

A few weeks of 2 or 3 times a week seems to be all mine have needed, but none of mine were quite to the tail-wagging state. (I did get two that were strikey with poor aim, no landed tags, that this helped out nicely, though)

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He’s very small still. I’d guess around 120g. Haven’t had the chance to weight him yet but I will tonight. I’m very smooth about picking him up, even though he follows my hand around while vibrating his tail. I’ll try the blanket thing. He seems too spazzy to try the hand cupping, I feel like he’d freak out more. He not only curls up in a ball when scared but he thrashes his tail like nothing I’ve ever seen before. It’s quite hard to calmly hold him lol