Reptile & Amphibian Forums

A week ago we acquired a healthy CB yearling normal from a reputable breeder. We left him along for three days to acclimate to his new environment, after which time he eagerly ate a thawed pre-killed mouse.

After letting him alone for another couple of days to digest his meal, we have started to handle him. (I have a six-year old daughter who is very excited about the new arrival, loves handling him, and would hold him every waking minute if I allowed it.)

He now appears to be safely past the regurgiation point, and I really want this animal to get used to being handled a lot.

I have read various things about ball pythons and their tolerance for handling. Authors R.D. & Patricia Bartlett say in their book "Ball Pythons" (Barron's Reptile Keeper's Guide): "Although we feel that the ball python is more a terrarium snake than a true-pet snake, acclimated specimens tolerate some handling . . ."

As I say, we all love handling the snake, and he seems to be OK with it as far as I can tell (guess we'll have to wait and see whether he stops eating.)

I haven't owned a snake in more than 20 years, but I have previously owned red-tail boas, handled them all the time, and never had any problems at all.

Still, I understand that BPs may be a bit more sensitive to over-handling, and I don't want to over-do it and stress the animal out. I want him to be a happy, well-adjusted snake.

So the question is: How much handling is too much? Is it OK to take him out of the cage several times a day, for handling periods of a half-hour or longer?

I'll appreciate hearing the thoughts of more experienced BP owners. (I should add that we got the snake as a pet, and I do not intend to get into breeding.)

In truth, most Balls tolerate handling very well. Have heard that wild caughts can be nippy till they acclimate, and with wild caught that can take some time. When my boys were small, the oldest started handling them at age 2, they would beg me to get one of mine out so they could hold it, still do on occasion . I really think they just like to be loose to explore more than handled. There is always a chance, even with a long term captive, that you will catch them on a bad day. Sorry, even snakes have those on occasion. I don't think I would over do it, maybe three or four times a day max. And only if there will be an adult present, just to keep an eye on things. For the benefit of the child and the snake. Take it slow, and be gentle.

Quig

Thanks for the response. FYI, my daughter is not allowed to hold the snake unless I am there with her.

I have been working with her on the proper way to handle (and read) a snake. I told her that if the snake bites her, it is her fault and not the snake's. It was very gratifying to watch her hand the snake to her mother with the warning: "If he bites you, it's not his fault -- it's your fault."

This is just my opinion I guess, but i think handling it several times a day would be overdoing it. I think just once a day and in the evening, since they like to sleep during the day, is good enough. You can definitely overdo it with the handling and if you do then they can stop eating and get a bit stressed out from it. I handle mine once a day in the evenings and when I feed him I wait a day or two after that to give him time to digest, like you did. Their are some people that would say that I'm even overdoing it and they only handle there's a few times a week. I guess it can depend on the individual snake too. Believe me, I LOVE to handle mine and he seems to like getting out of the tank every once in a while to go exploring around. But I try to give him his time during the day to sleep in his hide or do whatever he wants by himself in his tank. That's just me though. I'm sure you'll get different opinions on this. Good luck and have fun!

I'm in agreement, I don't beleive a ball should be handled every day, let alone a couple times a day, no matter how much it appears to "like being handled", it does put stress on them. I try to limit handling in our house to 3-4 times a week max. Of course my kids have their favorites which they always want to play with, but I try to keep tabs on them. Lucky for my Albino that the kids now prefer the new Angolan, he was getting a bit bombarded with love.

Also I personally wouldn't tell a child that if the snake bites it's his fault. I teach my children to read the snake and prepared them for the possiblity that it might happen no matter what. I have a little female that strikes at everything, it's nothing that we do, it's her temperment. I have another guy that's a bit of a recluse and he bit my son while he was changing the water dish, it wasn't anything that the child did, we change water dishes everyday. Accidents happen, dogs bite, cats bite, snakes bite. If you instill a sense of fear or uncertainty in the handler the snake will also become scared and uncertain.

Just my two cents.
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Tosha

8.15.0 Ball Python (Harry and Fluffy and currently un-named)
1.0.0 Angolan Python
0.2.0 Feline (Pippen and Pandora)
0.0.1 Dessert Tortoise (Pope)
2.2.1 Fish (1,2,3,4)
0.0.3 Lizards rescued from pool skimmer

My daughter understands that there are certain times when any snake may be more likely to bite, such as when one first reaches into the cage to grab it.

However, once the snake is out and in your hands, my own experience is that if you handle it carefully, don't make any sudden moves -- especially towards its face, and if you remain focused on the snake's movement and direction, the odds of getting bit are near zero.

That's what I mean about getting bitten not being the snake's fault.

My daughter is prepared for the possibility that the snake may bite her at some point, and that she always needs to be careful, focused, mindful and respectful of it when she's handling it.

If she does get bitten, I don't want her to be turned off and frightened of snakes in the future -- especially since she is so loving the snake owning experience now and learning so much. So by telling her it will be her fault (i.e. not being mindful enough), she will feel that she has some control over the situation in the future and can become better at reading the snake, rather than feeling that the snake was just mean and that she can't be safe with it.

BTW, I once had a yellow rat snake that was so mean it just couldn't be handled ever. It would strike at the glass if you even put your face too close, and it bit me more than once on those occasions when I (reluctantly) had to take it out of the cage to clean things up. God, I hated that snake! It actually belonged to my 8th grade science teacher, who kept it in the back of the classroom during the school year, and who asked me to take care of it one summer when he was on Sabbatical. I couldn't wait till Summer was over so I could give it back.

It depends on the snake. I have some that I would not hesitate to handle 12 hours out of the day. I have a male that occasionally sits on my lab and watches TV with me. I also have a female that gets incredibly nervous after about 10 minutes out of her tub. So, do read your snakes behavior and takes your ques from the snake. If it seems nervous and is constantly trying to move out of your hands, chances are it wants to go back to its hide. On the other hand if it seems like it is relaxed and just sits in you hands without moving all the time or trying to get away, then it is fine to continue handling it. In the beginning, I would have to agree, that most owners tend to over handle their BPs.

As far as snake bites, sometimes they are random, that vast majority of the time they can be avoided. It is really nobodys fault, just a fact of nature, but always know where your snake's head is at and never stick you hand in front of it when the snake is in the cage. Always approach the snake from the back. I have a buddy with a Dumerils boa that is almost impossible to pick up without getting bitten (its still small, so it only leaves a little mark). It's pretty good practice at respecting the snakes ability to bite you at any given time. Usually, once you pick a ball up, it will not bite you, unless you put it in a situation where it has to be defensive. By far and away, most bites occur while trying to get a snake out of the tank, while cleaning, or while feeding. Therefore, I always take mine out of the tank before doing any type of cleaning, water changing, etc... and never stick my hand in front of a snake that is looking right at me coiled and ready to strike...lol

I was having a similar conversation yesterday. My method of picking up a Ball Python is to lower my hand down to the substrate on the opposite side of the cage, and then slowly scoop my hand under the animal's belly...away from the head. I figure that snakes are eaten by swooping hawks all the time, and a hand spread five fingers wide decending on the animal from above may trigger some sort of "Oh crap! A hawk!" response. In fact, I think I read that somewhere...

Chris
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“Next time don't buy $10K worth of snakes out of the back of a van!” -- Toshamc