In my experience, I would not advise letting a snake's tongue "touch" your skin. I have taken a different approach than Brian's in the past, as far as touching the snake near the tail and conditioning the animal each time you want to remove it from it's cage. I only touch my snakes (away from their heads) when I want to get them out for exercise or to clean their habitats. On the contrary, when I am feeding my snakes (which only eat dead prey items) I make sure to place the prey in close proximity to the animals head so they can sense it. This action usually elicits a strong feeding response, even in animals that I consider very tame. Most snakes, by nature, are what is termed "head shy" and I usually only attempt to let my animals "touch" my hands after they are aware that I am attempting to get them out and not attempting to feed them. What I am saying is that by taking Brian's advice on this has the potential to frighten the animal or elicit a feeding response and should be avoided. If your snake it going into a shed cycle and you attempt to handle it, you risk doing damage to the animal's skin. Leave it alone until it sheds- just make sure to check the humidity in the cage. Just another opinion.

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