I didn't give my ball python the necessary chill time that everyone says, but he seems to be doing great. Has eatin' twice so far, and the second time, it took him seconds to eat, not minutes.
Maybe each ball is different, but it seems like everyone is worried about not handling them, I think it just has to be done in moderation. If you don't handle your python until the day you take him out to feed, how do you know you're not scaring the pants off of them?
What if handling them several times before you feed them makes them more relaxed when you take them out of your tank? So when you take them out to eat, they aren't scared of the initial pick-up.