My red tail hisses

[ckuhn003]

And it's totally up to you, but 5 minutes is more apt to stress a snake than a longer handling session; they're most ill at ease when we approach them & when we
first pick them up...she doesn't have a chance to learn to relax with you.

That's a good point that I never thought of. I usually tend to have shorter handling sessions w/ mine (even though he's been super tame since I got him). I'll consider increasing the sessions to increase comfort level for the both of us.