I agree with Joe.

Ball pythons are shy, secretive animals that in the wild spend much of their lives hidden in small tight burrows ... when they do leave the burrows, they try to do it in the dead of night to avoid detection. They are not the type of animal that does well being frequently pulled out of it's warm safe cage to be played with, handled, shown off, transported around in the cold winter air, and danced with.

It's certainly possible to build a trusting relationship between you and your animal that allows for short periods of interaction, but that is only recommended after a succesful pattern of consistent eating is established.

A happy ball python eats ... if the husbandry is correct, and your snake is not eating (especially at that size), it is stressed ... Over handling is certainly something that can stress out a small shy ball python.

-adam