Looking for some great feedback as a newcomer to this forum :)

[Brimstone111888]

Hi there. I handle mine very often to make sure that they are well familiar with being picked up. Also if you only pick them up when it is feeding time chances are that everytime that you stick you hand in there it will automaticly think food. Also you SHOULD NOT feed in the tank also to do with they will think everytime a hand enters it's going to be food!! lol Hope this helps any othere questions feel free to ask!-RAY

There is so much wrong in that paragraph, where do I start?

You only want to pick them up when its feeding time? Wrong, unless you want to get bit.

Feeding in the enclosure is fine and most people do it that way. That is seriously the biggest myth in the snake industry almost. I feed all my snakes in their enclosures and have NEVER been bitten.

Ball pythons are picky eaters to begin with and they are ambush hunters, picking them up and moving them a lot is a surefire way to get them to not eat.

[Bruce Whitehead]

Hi there. I handle mine very often to make sure that they are well familiar with being picked up. Also if you only pick them up when it is feeding time chances are that everytime that you stick you hand in there it will automaticly think food. Also you SHOULD NOT feed in the tank also to do with they will think everytime a hand enters it's going to be food!! lol Hope this helps any othere questions feel free to ask!-RAY

Triple myth alert!!!

Handling prior to acclimation does not calm your snake down. If he calms down, then he is "SHUTTING DOWN"... not something you want to do to him.

Feeding outside of the enclosure is a good way to risk bites, refusals, regurges, and stress.

Your snake will not mistake your hand for food... your hand does not look, smell, or mimic a rodent.

Bruce

[missi182]

Hi there. I handle mine very often to make sure that they are well familiar with being picked up. Also if you only pick them up when it is feeding time chances are that everytime that you stick you hand in there it will automaticly think food. Also you SHOULD NOT feed in the tank also to do with they will think everytime a hand enters it's going to be food!! lol Hope this helps any othere questions feel free to ask!-RAY

This is a very common misconception, but thank you for trying help. Feeding in a separate enclosure is done by some people, but actually poses a few issues. If you move a snake before and after it is fed, you are putting yourself in the most likely position to get bit (if that is a concern).

The more important issue is that when you remove a snake from its home, it is stressful in another open and insecure environment where it does not have the security of its hides and other normal surroundings to hunt its prey from. Once the snake has eaten - you have to put it back in its home. This MAY cause it to strike at you as it is still in feeding/hunt mode, or even regurgitate due to the stress of being moved.

[missi182]

Wow, thank you for this post- I'm following every step and heading shopping this weekend for our baby, Lucy! She's going to hopefully really love the improvments we make and have some major temperament changes eventually. One question, we have a heat lamp which is red and left on at all times as the upstairs of the house is cooler- as we get a thermometer we will start to pay attention to temperature more but is the color okay for her, for it to be on all of the time?

The red light, if it is one of those pricey red bulbs from the petstore, should not bother your bp much. The red tint (as far as I know) is actually not seen by your bp if it is the true infrared bulb.

[blackcrystal22]

The red light, if it is one of those pricey red bulbs from the petstore, should not bother your bp much. The red tint (as far as I know) is actually not seen by your bp if it is the true infrared bulb.

Theres a purple one too that works well, its a night setting one to look like moonlight I guess?

As jnj said, that tank is probably the root to your problems and you should get it in a smaller tank. That tank will fit it perfectly as an adult, but not a 10 month old ball. :]