She sounds perfect Rick. I know you heard that ball pythons ball up constantly, that they are poor eaters, poor shedders and very shy. Some are...some do all of the aforementioned...some do it occasionally...some never...in other words, all very unique and very reactive to their environment.

You took the time settling the snake in properly, gave her a good environment and good eats, didn't give her a reason to be overly defensive, etc. then I think what you are seeing is the best end result possible. We don't see a lot of balling up with any of our ball pythons, more of that fast pull back if they are startled. We have one big female, Orlah, who will allow you to gently pat her on her head like a dog for heaven's sakes (I have no idea why...we got her as an adult). Orlah apparently didn't read how she's supposed to be headshy LOL. Most of are very tolerant of gentle chin rubs as long as you don't come at them quickly or from the side or above.

We see a lot of that lurking where they laze about in their hides with just the head/neck poking out. Some of ours hunt prey that way every week. Some just do it because....well heck they want to LOL.

I think Cleo sounds great! Sometimes no matter what you do a snake won't accept much human contact but at least with our ball pythons so far we aren't finding that a huge problem, though each has their own particular tolerance for handling and we just respect that.


~~Jo~~