Great post and my thoughts exactly!! I have to bite my tongue on many occasions when people say their snake wants to come out to "play" and interact. I just don't understand how they've interpreted it that way...Originally Posted by rabernet
Well no one has answered the question asked in the thread title.
I personally don't believe that "a lot" of handling is good for your snake. I do believe that handling is for our pleasure, not the snake's, and we need to be able to respect that they simply tolerate us.
It does make us feel better to think that our snakes desire the interaction as much as we do, but I don't think any of my snakes "miss" me when I'm out of town, or have snakey dreams about our interactions together.
A more relaxed animal that has adapted well to handling may make their keeper feel that they "love" to come out, when in fact, they're simply an animal that doesn't stress as easily.
Behaviors such as stretching up to the top of the enclosure makes some keepers feel that the snake is desiring their company when in fact the snake is checking the enclosure for signs of weaknesses to exploit in an opportunity to escape. How many escaped ball pythons have sought out their owners because they desired to be handled or be in their company?
So, I voted the last option. I love interacting with my snakes - I have enough of them that I don't have to overhandle any one of them. They do get a daily handling of a few minutes to check them over for overall general health and time for me to say "man you're a gorgeous snake - you're my favorite!" to each of them.
Reply With Quote