Cheryls, I would like to thank you for this topic and I would like to thank the rest of you for your responses.

My daughter also left for college this year and then her cat died. My husband is a great guy, but I was lonely. Well, a little more than a week ago, my daughter brought home a 6-year-old, 4.5-foot ball python for my birthday. Her name is Eva, and she is beautiful. I was not the least bit afraid of her and held her every night and have been trying desperately to follow all of her care instructions, so I don't hurt her.

However, her feeding day was last Wednesday. My husband fed her (in her enclosure). He used a tool thing and as he was lowering the mouse (frozen/thawed), Eva "struck" at it, but she missed and hit a stick in her enclosure. (This was somewhat intimidating for me.) I think she hurt herself. We left her alone for a little bit and then my husband put the other mouse in there. She seemed totally disinterested at first, but then she ate it. She never did eat the first mouse.

Here is where the problem started. I wanted to find out what we did wrong, so I began searching the internet. There was so much inconsistent information.....she will become aggressive if she is fed inside her enclosure....she will become aggressive if she is fed outside her enclosure....ball pythons CAN and DO bite, etc. I became totally confused and frustrated. I left her alone for the required 48 hours after she ate the mouse.

Last night, my daughter came home and, of course, wanted to hold Eva. I started to reach in to get her, and I became officially afraid. This made my daughter afraid. So, there we were, standing over her enclosure looking at each other wanting to hold her, but too afraid to reach in and get her. I couldn't believe it. Just three days ago, I had no fear at all. Eventually, my husband took Eva out and put her on the bed between my daughter and me. Eva seemed a little different. She usually completely stretches out and tries to explore when she is not on our bodies. She did not ball up, but she was kind of just crawling over herself. At that point, I was not worried about her hurting me, I was worried that she wasn't okay, so I picked her up and held her. She was fine and within minutes was crawling all over me. Then my daughter took her and she was fine with her as well.

I feel like a terrible snake mom. I told my daughter that I don't feel qualified to take care of her anymore. My daughter looked at me and said....."You didn't know how to take care of me when you first got me either, but I turned out perfect." That made me feel so much better, and I thought it might make Cheryls feel better too. It also made me feel better to read this thread. Some other message boards I read were not nearly as kind or encouraging.

Again, thank you all. Sorry I was so wordy.