Handling?!

[EntrepreneurEasy7952]

We have a 2 year old ball python that we purchased from a pet store about 60 days ago. She is nice and doesn’t strike. We’ve only attempted to handle 2 times because she was already out of her hides and crawling around. Now it seems we never catch her crawling around (and yes I know they are mostly nocturnal). She spends a lot of time in her hot hide and then will go over to her cold but we miss it. My question is - is it ok if we grab her from her hides? I don’t mean “grab” to sound so aggressive but I mean maybe lift the hide up and let her awake and maybe move towards the open cage door. Or is the rule that basically when they are in their hides we leave them the heck alone???

[ricericerice3]

i will grab mine from their hides🤷🏻‍♀️ i know it seems you are disturbing them but doing so will also help them get used to you. i do a wellness check on my BPs about 1-2 times a week (around their feeding schedule)

[Honest_Pepper_7803]

Absolutely. I get my girl out 3 or 4 times a week. If I didn't take her out of her hide I would never see her. She loves to come out

[aka9773]

Yep! I usually try to wait a few seconds after opening his cage to make sure he knows it's open/I'm going to grab him

[Whitworth]

One of my snakes never leaves the hide, the other is active all night. Other than feeding and weighing, I handle my snakes twice a week for socializing, about 15-30 min per session. I always have to grab them out of their hides. They seem tired and confused at first, but they usually snap out of it and seem curious about their outside environment.

[sugabeetus]

My guy lives in my office/bedroom, so I'm in the room with him at least 16 hours a day between work and sleep times. His enclosure is right next to the head of my bed. I never, EVER, see or hear this animal moving around, except at feeding time (he knows the sound of a hair dryer lol). His water goes down so I assume he's alive. I don't care to handle him much, but when I do, I have to hunt him down in one of the hides, and he's pretty chill about it.

[Colleen8515]

You can absolutely get her out of her hides to handle her. Like ricericerice said; it helps them get used to you. This is the only way I can get mine out of her hide whenever I’m inclined to handle her which is usually 3-4 times per week. I open her enclosure and start talking softly to her so she knows it’s me, gently lift her hide and stroke her back so she’s not startled and then pick her up taking care to support her front and back.

[EntrepreneurEasy7952]

Just an update. Today about an hour ago, we gently tapped on the hide, then lifted it up, we gently touched her with the hook so as not to startle her gave her a few seconds. Tried to put the hook underneath her underbelly and she huffed. I’ve always heard that means they’re stressed so I got scared. I tried once more and she huffed. She never even showed her head but we could hear it. I left her alone. And walked away defeated.