You should wait until he's eaten at least 3 times before doing any handling- otherwise, you may end up with a very frustrating pet that refuses to eat. If you put your snake's welfare above your own desires to handle him, you'll likely have a healthy pet that thrives & lives a normal lifespan.
Stress (besides causing snakes to not eat) is as bad for their health as it is for ours- your snake will have been exposed to many parasites & germs before you take him home, & if you overstress him, his immune system will not function to protect his health as well as it should. Eating regular meals supports the snake's body, including their immune system, so "eating is job #1" for a pet snake.
Remember these are NOT "domestic animals"- they rely on instincts to survive, & the only thing that picks them up in the wild is a predator that's about to eat them. So no wonder handling can make them too stressed to eat...understand?
Give your snake a fighting chance by letting him settle in first, with optimum rest & meals at normal (weekly) intervals, before you start handling him. Just watch him for a while- that's fun too & you might learn some things.
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