Hey Tom,



I am not sure if it is 100% effective that if you leave the hatchling totally alone or close to 100% untouched for the first few months (as in your example 5 months) that it would be easy to handle after 5 months of not handling at all...if this theory would work for all snakes...I would think that most would still be trying as hard as they can to quirm away from you since they are not used to them being handling or human contact or scent. What I usually do with hatchlings and have been so far been effective is: I only pick the hatchling up if it were resting from the cool side of the terrarium...by doing so, the metabolism at that point of the day isn't as active as when its body ahs been heated up if it were resting on the warmer side of the terrarium...of course when as you handle it, it warms itself with your own body heat and then it will start to wiggle and get away from you. Of course, when you handle a hatchling, your movements should be done very slowly ... and handling should really last for about 5 minutes (no more than that)... if one does that almost every day, it makes a lot of difference. Plus, never handle them within 24-36 hours after a good size meal. I have gone through about 25 hathlings through my own collection and production and about 20 hatchlings through my volunteer work with local orgs here and have been successful this way.



I'm sure your suggestion of leaving them totally alone the first few months work in some snakes...but am just concerned making this a norm .. a novice out there might find himself/herself having an unfriendly or irritating 5 or 6 month old hatchling when it was very seldom handled while it was growing up.



Well, that's just my 2 cents for what its worth.



Great looking tangerine albino you got there!



Thanks...




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RAY

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