Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I adopted my first ball python last night. It's female and was told she's about 4 years old. I'm guessing she's about full grown..(about 4-4.5') She shed last night and I'm going to be feeding her on Friday. I was told to put them in their new tank and don't mess with them for about a week so she can get used to it.....She seems a bit skitish, which in turn makes me skitish. The previous owner said she's never bitten him, but hey, anyone can say that lol. My questions are, can she tell when I feel skitish? Also, is a week long enough to let her get to know her surroundings before handling her? Also, should I feed her in her tank or out of it....I've read to feed them out of their tank but I'm affraid she's going to mistake my hand as food if I go to get her out....

In my opinion they can tell when you are unsettled about them. I will usually give my snakes a few days before i handle them and when i do start to handle them i usually only go for 5 or 10 mins for the first week and by then i usually feel pretty comfy that the snake and i have a good feeling of each other. As for feeding im sure you'll get alot of contraversy on it, when i first started getting into snakes it was about a 50/50 split on in cage or in separate feeding tank. I personally feed all mine in there own cage because i have so many it would take me all day to remove each snake feed separtatly. I just have a process with mine, on days im handling them i use my snake hook and gently rub it down their back as kind of a signal that "hey im just getting you out im not feeding you" and on feeding days i just open it up and drop them in.
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1.3.2 normals, 1.3.1 pastels, 0.1 mojave, 0.1 pinstripe, 0.1 albino, 1.0 yellow belly, 1.1 het pied, 1.0 amelanistic corn, 0.1 normal corn, 2.1 miniture dachshunds, 0.1 beautiful fiance
*snakes are like oreos, no one can just have one!*

I only have like a year of reptile experience... but I've had my snake for about..6 months or so. If I have time I like to feed him out of his tank in a feeding tub so that he doesn't get shavings in his mouth when he eats (which I've seen him do when feeding him in the tank). Ball pythons are pretty docile... If you feed them on a regular basis (every 7-10 days), they probably won't bite you. If you handle her enough, not just when feeding, she probably won't know until you put her in the tub that it's time for feeding. That's just my two cents

Good luck!

Thanks so much! I got her on Monday and last night I got her out and handled her for about 10 minutes. Then I put her in a tub and fed her. She ate with no hesitation. I was so happy/proud!! It's a great feeling and I'm addicted now. Theres no going back!! lol