now this may sound a little harsh--but seriously, leave your snake ALONE! one week is the absolute minimum. it's best not to handle at all until the snake has 3 or 4 successfull feeds behind it. you just lost one, do you want to lose another? do you want to have a problem feeder? do you want your new snake to be so stressed that it starves itself or becomes ill? i don't care how much you WANT to handle your new snake. it's not about YOU it's about the SNAKE. make the right choice and give this little guy and chance.