Reptile & Amphibian Forums

We just got a new snake yesteray and I read to leave them alone for 2 weeks, well I snuck her out last night and she loved it, was going exploring all over me and did not seem stressed at all. Can we handle her or do we really have to wait the 2 weeks, its so hard not to hold her.

Samantha

well, i would say wait til she eats for you a few times, before handling her, i have a snake here a bp i bought, she was my second bp.... i handled her and she seemed ok, but didnt eat for 2 months, i stressed her out so in return she stressed me out...LOL ..... i left her alone for ten days, tried to get her to eat and she refused, but i handled her some to.... i left her alone for 15 days and finally she ate, i am still having problems getting her to eat the correct sized prey, we are working on it and its going slow but shes eating and keeping her weight up.
my first bp, when i got him he ate 2 days after being here and has done well so far..............
my third bp, i just recently got in jan, i set her up in her enclosure and waited 10 days, and did not handle her til she ate 3 meals, and she has done well......
the first 2 photos are of the devi she was the bp that went 2 months refusing to eat.
the last photo is of durga my first bp.
havent gotten a chance to take any of puja yet.

When did she eat last? What kind of setup do you have for her? Are her cage temperatures correct? Does she have plenty of hiding places? Where is she in the house? How much traffic is there through the room where she is kept?

I'm not very experienced, so I can't say that one or the other action is correct. I handled my ball python just a little bit for a couple of days after I brought her home. I fed her about a week after I brought her home, and she ate without a problem. In the four months that I've had her, she's never given me big problems by refusing to eat.

I'll admit to being very lucky with the ball python that I bought. I had no way of knowing when I bought her that she would be such a great little snake and would tolerate things well. As it turns out, she's very patient and doesn't allow too many things to stress her too much. On the other hand, there are things about my situation that are very advantageous to my snake.

I'm a middle-aged bachelor living alone. I'm in the room where I keep my snakes for a few hours a night while I fiddle with my computer, but otherwise, the room is empty and quiet. From midnight until seven in the morning, no one is in here making noise. I come in briefly around seven to check on things, get ready for work, and am gone until six in the evening. Not having people and noise in the room is generally good for a snake.

I'm also a bit compulsive about providing her with hiding places. When I first bought her, her cage was a bit bare, but I've been adding hiding places ever since. She has a choice of hides and uses two or three on a regular basis. I suspect that if she can spend twenty-three and a half hours a day in a very effective hide, she will better tolerate being held for half an hour. More experienced people may say that this factor isn't important, and I can't argue with them.

I can't say either way what you should do. I wouldn't spend a great deal of time holding her at this point, but resisting that temptation is sometimes easier for me because I'm so busy.

Congratulations on getting a really neat pet. I wish you all the best with her.

Bill
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It's not how many snakes you have. It's how happy and healthy you can keep them.

I say be patient and let him be for awhile. Breeders and long-time keepers would not advice on a period of "acclimation" if it was not for the good of the snake. Get him used to the enclosure, and the new environment that you have him in before handling. Stress will affect every aspect of your snake's health; feeding, shedding, etc...

Also, snakes, unlike dogs do not have expressions of enjoyment, pain, or stress, so I don't think anybody can really tell if a ball python is enjoying itself. Do not think that your ball is enjoying itself crawling all around you, it may very well mean that its looking for an escape route, or a close heat source, which in this case, is your own body.