Another one of chondro python's debats

[XxRachxX]

i only handle mind like twice a week, once for feeding, once for cleaning him out.
i think that handling not only benefits the snake but benefits the owner too. The owner has to be used to handling the snake, know how to handle it, knowing its "personality" and how it reacts to certain things. that way the handler will know if it has a tendency to bite them or it may slither off under the floorboards, stuff like that. i know that after not handling any of the larger species for a while, i was quite nervous when i had to handle some of the big snakes at work a few weeks ago.
i also think that it provides them with some other sort of stimuli, instead of: log, newspaper, waterbowl, hide... just my 2p

[LdyDrgn]

Not all tree boas are that sensitive, either. We can handle our two males right before feeding and they still won't hesitate to eat. Granted they are captive bred and used to much handling. When you try to put them back in their enclosure they look around, look at us, then climb right back up an arm, LOL! Friendly lil boogers

[Neo]

when you say reptiles ur being very very general.. this could be snakes, lizards, turtles, etc

neway, i have leos and me handling them acts as a heating pad to an otherwise heat lamped environment. when ever i pick mine up they know their gonna get some belly heat.

[jay76]

I enjoy handling my reptiles, but I can't vouch for them. Certainlly all reptiles behave and react differently. My two female leos hiss and try to bite my fingers until they're on my hand, then they're little angels (not sure if I should leave 'em be or try to get them used to me). The male has actually walked onto my hand while it was in the tank spot cleaning. My kingsnake has actually eaten while being handled - until I started putting him in the feeding box before his mouse anyways. It was kind of neat having him dangle from my finger while he chowed down, but it kind of limits what cleaning I can do during feeding time. So I'm going to side with the handling isn't inherently bad group... if your snake or lizard doesn't freak, and it gets needed exercise and stimulation, how can it be bad?

[elevation24]

It's not so much a matter of handling but rather how often you are handling and for how long.

It's really funny that you mention this because I just got through handling my female ball python a bit and when I put her away I thought to myself how much she <i>seems</i> to enjoy being out and about. I take her out 2-3 times a week for maybe 10-15 minutes at a time and she seems to enjoy it. Perhaps enjoyment is a difficult emotion to detect in a snake but she absolutely does not sit still and hope that I don't see her. She goes everywhere, inspects everything, and she doesn't seem to have a problem with being handled. I don't take my male out so much yet because he's very nippy as I haven't even had him for a month yet. Last night was the first time I handled him much at all and it was for less than 10 minutes, some of which was spent weighing him (this was the reason I took him out in the first place). He was acting very defensive for a few minutes but he seemed to "calm down" soon and I sat down for a few minutes with him and he began exploring my desk.

But of course they don't need human intervention. If they can live in the wild without it they can certainly live captive without it. But you must remember that the conditions they live in in the wild are much different than in captivity, especially the amount of space in which they can move.

I handle my snakes because they are "pets". I am not a breeder or a huge collector or anything else, I don't have them so they can be on display or any other reason except that I have them because I enjoy them, I enjoy caring for them, and to enjoy them even more I'd like to be able to take them out every so often for short periods of time. Whether they actually like it or not is not something you can say for sure. You can say that they are stressed, and maybe they are, I really don't know but because they all eat fine, shed fine, and everything else, all signs would have to point to no, they are not stressed.

[Jeff_Favelle]

When our adult corns hear our voices or sense activity in the herp room,

You must have some seriously magical snakes man because even with the little that I know about them, I know that snakes don't have ears and they can't hear. But if your corns can hear you, then so be it..................

[BoidKeeper]

Now Jeff he did say sense too. They will know he's there because of him walking on the floor. Kinda like Pavloves dogs.
Then again I'm not conveninced he's not Satan and maybe the snakes, since they are the spawn of the devil can hear him, who knows???
Cheers,
Trevor

[Jeff_Favelle]

Now Jeff he did say sense too.

That doesn't matter Trev! If I said I could fly AND said I could run really really fast, does that mean I never said I could fly?

Exactly.......

[BoidKeeper]

Exactly.......

LOL!
You know sometimes Jeff there's just no arguing with you.
Cheers Yoda,
Trevor

[Invictus]

http://www.anapsid.org/torrey.html

http://www.richland.lib.sc.us/archive/quest1102.htm

Quote from the above link:

Q. Do snakes hear?

A. Although they do not have external ears and do not hear in the same manner as humans or other reptiles with eardrums, snakes do hear sounds transmitted through the air. According to the book, Snakes in Question, sounds are transmitted to a snake through the skin located over the temporal region of its skull to its jaw muscle and then to its quadrate bone. A snake’s ear bone is adjacent to its quadrate bone and the ear bone picks up the sound and transmits the vibrations to the snake’s inner ear. The inner ear contains cells that are sound-sensitive. Snakes hear low frequency sounds best. For further information on hearing or other senses in snakes, see Snakes in Question.

There are a million other links on the net containing this same info, but I figure 2 links will suffice.

Even my daughter's grade 4 class learned about how snakes don't have external ears, but they do still have bones inside their head that can detect airborne sounds.

*flips the bird to Jeff*



And Trevor, I am Satan. :devil: Mwahahahaha!

[Jeff_Favelle]

But Invictus, the real question is, do they say "hi, how are you doing" when you walk in??

[lordkovacs]

snakes don't NEED handling. however, to prevent future undue stress and aggression, it is necessary when they are young.

[NewLineReptile]

I agree with Invictus about handling i handle all my snake and have no problems when it is time to feed

Brandon

[Mr.Lizard]

My feelings are that if the individual/species is an inquisitive and active one,then yes handling is probably a good thing for them.
Otherwise the stress of boredom is worse than that of being picked up and handled occasionally.
I give my monitor PK mice so she doesn't risk being bitten but I tug-o-war with the mouse to give her a little excercise and stimulation...I really think she enjoys it. Occasionally I handfeed her crickets too,I think it helps to socialize her a bit because she is definitely calmer with me the more frequently I handle her.
If I don't handle her for a while she gets a bit wild and nippy and I don't think an aggressive animal is a happy one.

[Jeff_Favelle]

Do snakes get bored?