I bought my first BP recently, and noticed the heavy breathing during a handling session. Once I figured out that he doesn't ALWAYS breathe that way, I reduced my handling to about every third day. As time has passed he has been much more relaxed while being handled, and pretty much just wraps around my wrist and chills. It is hard to resist handling your new pet, but if you can do it and allow them to acclimate you and your new pet will both be better off for it.