how often to handle?

[Kagas Kritters]

How often do you hold your snakes to keep them tame? And how long each time do you hold them for?

[MeMe]

very little.

Once a month to get their weights....every now and again for a photo shoot...and when I am cleaning their enclosures.

[Kagas Kritters]

wow, thats not much. they stay tame that way? i haven't been handling mine much lately and my ball is pretty calm still but my cal king is real jumpy.

[JLC]

wow, thats not much. they stay tame that way? i haven't been handling mine much lately and my ball is pretty calm still but my cal king is real jumpy.

Aahhhh...well, the way you handle them will vary a lot between species. Ball pythons are typically slow, docile snakes (certainly not ALL of them...but it's a fair general description)....and they don't need a lot of interaction to stay "tame."

Other species might need more consistent interaction just to get used to the idea of being handled at all...and may never "enjoy" it. Many colubrids can be flighty and insecure little snakes, especially when they are young, and may never seem to "relax" while being handled.

[MeMe]

wow, thats not much. they stay tame that way? i haven't been handling mine much lately and my ball is pretty calm still but my cal king is real jumpy.

well...yea.

I have corns and one let's me get him out anytime and the other turns all crazy when you go to pick her up.

each snake is different.

[Kagas Kritters]

well...yea.

I have corns and one let's me get him out anytime and the other turns all crazy when you go to pick her up.

each snake is different.

my cal king starts striking at me if i try to pick her up out of the tank, so i started using a snake hook to get her out.

i know every snake is different, i was just trying to get an idea of how often to work with them.....like every day, 2-3 times a week, or what?

[rabernet]

You don't really need to work with ball pythons - in the end, they are still a wild animal. Mine are handled about once a week, maybe 5 minutes at a time, when cleaning. Every now and then I'll want a longer handling session, it's just a matter of deciding who I want to visit with.


All of mine are pretty docile for the most part. Of coure, being snakes, they all have their bad days - nothing that more handling would have changed though.