Looking for advice from more experienced keepers

[Bogertophis]

Thank you. Glad through my own research I came to the same conclusion that someone who's been doing this for decades has. That's exactly what I'm doing with my ball python, well no handling as we haven't gotten 3 feeds yet, but letting him get used to my scent and not thinking every time the enclosure opens he's getting fed. I might just be checking his hot spot temperature.

Sent from my XT1650 using Tapatalk

Rat snakes (including corns) are more scent-oriented, whereas BPs tend to rely on heat signatures so they might not "get" your scent the way a rat snake will. But it doesn't hurt to give them all the cues you can- snakes can't hear & don't see that well (other than "motion" which can be either prey or predator coming their way), so if you want calm snakes, do your best to communicate thru any means you can. It really helps. They recognize our touch also, but a snake that's thinking "prey" can be hard to approach safely to touch them- that's where "tap (or "hook") training" comes in. I prefer to avoid bites- not that bites from harmless snakes are a big deal, because they're not- but I want my snakes to feel "safe" with me, & communication any way we can truly helps that.

You're asking good questions & I'm glad you got this job- the snakes (& other staff there) needs someone like you, that's asking the right questions & working to improve things.