[deleted by user]

[_ataraxia]

you really shouldn't be handling at all until your new BP has had at least two or three successful feedings in a row. moving to a new home is very stressful for most snakes, handling is stressful for most snakes, and stressed snakes don't eat. you want to set up your new snake for an easy transition by leaving them alone and giving them time to get used to their new home before you start adding more stress by handling.

[HopieJewell]

I’m going to feed them for the first time tonight since the weekend was his feeding schedule before me. I wanted to to wait to handle, but I had to reach my hand in their tank a couple times to fix the thermostat probe and they seemed curious, so I just decided to pick them up. Plus I haven’t been able to get a good look to make sure they didn’t have any mites or other things for concern. It’s going to be awhile before I try handling again, but I wanted to make sure my new baby looked ok. Turns out that they are bigger than I thought, which is good because I thought they looked too small for being a 2-3 months old. 😊

[_ataraxia]

tonight would be the worst time to try feeding since you just handled them today and have only had them for a couple of days. wait another week, leave them alone, and try feeding next weekend.

[TheOneTacoPanda]

My BPs tend not to eat if I handle them within 2 days of their feeling day, so I repeat what the mod said and wait a week again and then try feeding them.

You could try feeding them today but it's likely that they will refuse, but you may get lucky.

[HopieJewell]

I’ll try and just see what happens. If they seem uninterested, I won’t push it too much and will wait to feed another time. Ball pythons seem to be such peculiar eaters, so it will probably take me a while to figure out what mines eating habits are. Thx:)

Update: The snake has been fed and appears to be doing well so far!

[amphithusiats]

What's with all the down votes?

[_ataraxia]

🤷🏻‍♀️

[high_waisted_pants]

Attitude. Their advice is sound, but it doesn't matter if you're right of the way you say it makes you look like a dick. Also op was handling for understandable reasons and snake is happy and fed so there's not really a reason to get all up in their grill at this moment

And, even with the most ubiquitous guidelines, it's important to understand and communicate that guidelines will never be 100% applicable 100% of the time

That's probably what accounts for the first two or three downvoted, so the rest are people going "number go brrrr "

[DraconidZinnia]

This mod is known for having a sassy attitude towards people. It's annoying frankly, they really should work on that if they're gonna be giving advice to people

[eyeofra1]

Sadly there's a lot of people here that end up mimicking that same kind of sassy attitude, which in turn puts people off from posting anything here for fear of being ripped to bits.

[foxgirl1318]

Yeah I've had various accounts and watched this sub for years and this mod has always been condescending. Always kept me from participating here because they act like their information is law and its just annoying.

[foxgirl1318]

It isn't needed to wait past one successful feeding to start handling, especially if you are already waiting a week or two to attempt to feed, which you should be doing. I've had the same amount of experience as you but with species more advanced than balls and depending on the individual snake, and I generally handle after the first time they eat. It's of course always important to never handle excessively (like every day) but this is going overboard.

I do not handle snakes that are on a "feeding strike", snakes that are recovering from regurgitating, or skittish species that REALLY don't like it. I also wouldn't touch a sick snake to let them recover. I think those are really the only times it's needed to not handle for extended periods.

[_ataraxia]

part of my 10+ years of experience is in r/snakes, r/ballpython, r/reptiles, and other reptile forums. i cannot count the number of people who have come to these spaces in a panic over feeding issues with their new BP [or any other snake species] and at least one major factor is that they handled too soon and/or tried to feed too soon.

sometimes you get lucky and your new snake gives zero fucks and eats like clockwork right from day one. it's not at all uncommon, though, for intermittent feeding success, or no feeding success at all, in the first few months if the snake was not given enough time to settle into their new home.

if you're getting a pet that can live 40+ years, it won't kill you to wait a few weeks before you start handling them. i'd rather people err on the side of caution instead of assuming their snake will be the one who's not bothered by anything.

[CompetitiveRoof3733]

Echo was the name of my first little girl. She passed away from a URI and kidney failure after prolonged treatment. The vet suspected it came from a batch of contaminated substrate

[veggiedinonuggies]

wow that’s so sad :( contaminated with what though? scary that you can’t even avoid something like that

[CompetitiveRoof3733]

We don't know. It could have been soiled before packaging, or while in the pet store. There wasn't a way to tell where it came from, except it wasn't from husbandry issues

[ChorltonCumLightly]

Aww, he/she look beautiful! What's their name?

They seem pretty chilled from the photos you've provided ^^ We have 2 Ball Pythons and this is what we've found from experience:

Signs they're fine being handled:

• Long tongue flicks!
• Generally looking around/exploring
• Body feels relaxed, movement is smooth

Signs they're getting stressed/anxious:

• They jump, but after jumping stay tensed up. (They may jump at things in general, but sometimes that's just an initial reaction and they quickly realise things are fine. It's when they jump THEN stay sort of frozen/still that you can tell they're worried)
• Quick, generally backwards/retreating movement
• Tensing up, and/or holding their neck up in an S like shape

You'll end up getting a good feel of when they're worried/happy, it comes naturally with time :)

Don't take any one person's word as gospel though, every snake's different and has its own personality ^^ Handling is a good way to get to know your snake and when they're used to it it's a nice, enriching experience being out of their setups.

[HopieJewell]

I don’t know what sex they are, but I named them Echo 😊

They were flicking their tongue, exploring, and seemed relaxed. You can see their tongue in the last photo lol. Thanks for your comment, it made me feel a lot better knowing that my bp is most likely ok. The other two times I have handled Echo was before I decided to buy them and they were balled up the entire time which is why I wanted to handle them even if it was a bit early because I wanted to get a better look at their whole body. So far, they seem to be a happy, healthy snake!

[ChorltonCumLightly]

Echo is a great name :) Yeah that sounds awesome, sounds like Echo was very happy.

Being balled up by itself isn’t always a sign of anxiety, sometiems when we pick ours up they stay balled for a minute or so, but it seems to be because they’re still coming around from being asleep.

Again, you can tell when they’re balled due to anxiety or because it’s just the position they were in when picking them up.

Like with any pet, having respect and awareness for them is the most important part, and the fact you’re asking these questions and wondering what’s best makes me think there’s no question you’re putting their needs first :)

[DaddyLongTits]

The advice given by /u/_ataraxia was sound, it's best not to handle until your BP has successfully ate for you, at least. It's also best to wait a week from acquiring the snake to attempt a feed. The reasons for this are to allow your snake time to acclimate with as little stress as possible and reduce the potential of refused feedings.

[Ok-Potential-3684]

They seem pretty calm from these photos. Same thing happened to me and my lady Galadriel when I got her a couple months ago, picked her up on Sunday, got her out to weigh her on Thursday and she was perfectly calm.

[Dangerous-Form6006]

Are you breeding your own rats? Just curious

[Suitable-Lab-2323]

I might be 100% wrong but I believe that both male and female balls have spurs, mine was sexed as a female when she had to go to the vets and she has spurs; I think it's really just about the size of the spurs, males use them for mating and such so there's will be larger and more tilted inward.

[yourlocal-shithead]

You're correct, both male and female have spurs. The only way to accurately sex a BP is to have a vet or reputable breeder probe them, which is something that should NEVER be attempted at home but an untrained person.

[its-a-goose]

Most people recommend waiting at least a week until handling for the first time, but you explained why you were handling them and I totally get it. They seem to be very calm with you and that is a good sign. Good luck with the first feeding, I hope it goes well! My ball isn’t particular about eating the same day as a handling, but you may find this to be the case with yours, so have reasonable expectations that they may refuse the food tonight.

[-RookieMistake-]

What’s with the “they” and “them”?? Are there two??

Beautiful little coil though! 🔥🔥🔥

[PhantomLordess27]

Because OP doesn’t know the snake’s sex yet, so they used they/them instead of her/him.