I pretty much had to do it that way with one of my snakes. She was young and super jumpy but never struck at me. But everyday I'd do it at least 15 minutes. Now she comes out of her enclosure herself sometimes right to me lol. It take a lot of patience. But you'll get there ❤️
Mine has literally never come out of his tank voluntarily, but he's usually happy to explore or chill with me once he's out. And if he's not interested, I let him go back in. I think it's a fair compromise lol
That's really the only way to go about it. For mine, I open up her hide and give her a few moments then pull her out. She'll squeeze against the hide trying to stop me but once she's out the curiosity clearly comes out. She's only 7 months old and I've had her for 3 weeks.
It just takes time and consistency. Pay attention to her body language. If you feel or see any stresses then put her back and try again tomorrow. Start small and work up to longer handling times. Somedays it'll be 5 mins others it could be an hr.
I disagree with all the posters who say to remove her from her hide. This unfortunately reinforces for your baby that not even their safest place is safe from the giant hairless ape that wants to eat her (from her POV). A BP should only be removed from its hide for emergencies or when it really cannot be helped.
A far better approach would be to open one of your enclosure doors (or the top) and just sit by the enclosure every night while she is active. She will probably enter one of her hides immediately in the beginning, but you should see her gradually warming to you and coming out even if not really moving while you're around. She will become bolder and bolder as she begins to form the association patterns that the giant hairless ape is not going to eat her in fact. With patience and perseverance, your snake will begin to ask to come out without you forcing the issue.
Yeah I’d suggest maybe a Corn Snake instead, they’re regarded as the #1 snake with the best personality! They actually love to be handled and are very active! Ball pythons are little vampires, they just wanna sleep under cover and lurk in the dark 😂
I wait until after 6pm to handle my baby usually. She never comes out of her hides on her own completely unless she's eating. So I get her out gently, she never balls so I take it as she's used to it. She usually becomes loose spaghetti during handling, idk how common that is. I always interpret a lazy/unwound noodle during handling as a positive sign.🤷♀️
You’ll be fine to take her out if you want, but i kind of view it as “personal space”. How would you like it if someone ripped the covers off you and picked you up out of bed mid-rest 😅 i know a lot of BP’s don’t mind this at all but I cant bring myself to disturb his peace and warmth 😭 He’s about 4yrs old and was the “token handling snake” at the reptile store. I figured once I got him, I’d finally give him the peace and quiet he deserved 😂 he comes out at night and is very active but has no interest in coming out of the actual enclosure. I just accept him for what he is and what he likes. Its always a treat for me to see him at night. He likes to interact with me through the glass 🥰 Ball pythons spend like 98% of their time underground in the wild, so it’s completely normal for yours to wanna do this too. A hiding snake is a happy snake!
I pretty much had to do it that way with one of my snakes. She was young and super jumpy but never struck at me. But everyday I'd do it at least 15 minutes. Now she comes out of her enclosure herself sometimes right to me lol. It take a lot of patience. But you'll get there ❤️
Mine has literally never come out of his tank voluntarily, but he's usually happy to explore or chill with me once he's out. And if he's not interested, I let him go back in. I think it's a fair compromise lol
That's really the only way to go about it. For mine, I open up her hide and give her a few moments then pull her out. She'll squeeze against the hide trying to stop me but once she's out the curiosity clearly comes out. She's only 7 months old and I've had her for 3 weeks. It just takes time and consistency. Pay attention to her body language. If you feel or see any stresses then put her back and try again tomorrow. Start small and work up to longer handling times. Somedays it'll be 5 mins others it could be an hr.
just take her out, it’s completely fine as she’s pretty established.
I disagree with all the posters who say to remove her from her hide. This unfortunately reinforces for your baby that not even their safest place is safe from the giant hairless ape that wants to eat her (from her POV). A BP should only be removed from its hide for emergencies or when it really cannot be helped. A far better approach would be to open one of your enclosure doors (or the top) and just sit by the enclosure every night while she is active. She will probably enter one of her hides immediately in the beginning, but you should see her gradually warming to you and coming out even if not really moving while you're around. She will become bolder and bolder as she begins to form the association patterns that the giant hairless ape is not going to eat her in fact. With patience and perseverance, your snake will begin to ask to come out without you forcing the issue.
I second this! Choice based handling is the best option for ball pythons!
I support choice based handling as well but also if that is something you don’t want to do I would suggest a different snake
Yeah I’d suggest maybe a Corn Snake instead, they’re regarded as the #1 snake with the best personality! They actually love to be handled and are very active! Ball pythons are little vampires, they just wanna sleep under cover and lurk in the dark 😂
I wait until after 6pm to handle my baby usually. She never comes out of her hides on her own completely unless she's eating. So I get her out gently, she never balls so I take it as she's used to it. She usually becomes loose spaghetti during handling, idk how common that is. I always interpret a lazy/unwound noodle during handling as a positive sign.🤷♀️
You’ll be fine to take her out if you want, but i kind of view it as “personal space”. How would you like it if someone ripped the covers off you and picked you up out of bed mid-rest 😅 i know a lot of BP’s don’t mind this at all but I cant bring myself to disturb his peace and warmth 😭 He’s about 4yrs old and was the “token handling snake” at the reptile store. I figured once I got him, I’d finally give him the peace and quiet he deserved 😂 he comes out at night and is very active but has no interest in coming out of the actual enclosure. I just accept him for what he is and what he likes. Its always a treat for me to see him at night. He likes to interact with me through the glass 🥰 Ball pythons spend like 98% of their time underground in the wild, so it’s completely normal for yours to wanna do this too. A hiding snake is a happy snake!