People I the chat room in reptichat were tellin me that they hold their herps as little as possible. I totally disagree. What do you all think? they say the snake always will think you are a predator.

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2.0 burmese pythons
1.0 Ball Python
0.0.1? Chaco Gold Stripe Tarantula
0.1 Puff Adder
1 golder retriever

Wish List
FalseWater Cobra
green iggy
blue tongued skink
b and w tengu
savannah monitor
[color=Red]I can accept failure,but I can't accept not trying- Michael Jordan

I hold each of my herps for at least 10 min (individually) a day. If I have more time than I hold them longer.

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Josh Shrader

1.0 Ball Python (Monty)
0.1 Red-Eared Slider (Woody)
0.1 Yellow-Bellied Slider (Buz)

My Boas come out all the time durring the summer... I even take them to the cruising strip here in town to hang out with the car club. Mine love people and they hate being in their cages.

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0.0.1 Red Legged Walking Frog
0.0.1 Green Tree Frog
0.0.1 Albino Pacman Frog
0.0.1 Baby Ambilobe Panther Chameleon

Depends entirely on the species and individual. If it is my ball pythons I rarely take them out, usually just cleaning purposes. Get stressed to easily. My species of corallus are all to aggresive and there is no need for stress there. I see no need to hold reptiles excessively (ie: 3 times a day etc...). But in some cases, like species that are fossorial the only way to see and observe them is to hold them.

Yeah, it depends a lot on the species. Reptiles tend not to get any enjoyment out of being handled. They're just not playful animals. Some species seem to get some enjoyment out of it though. Others will at least tolerate it, while others will absolutely protest. Exessive handling can stress them out, but for some species, its nice to get them out of the cage once in a while for a little excersize. Typically, larger reps will tolerate more handling than smaller, but that's not always the case. I'd never handle an anole or a garter snake unless it was really necessary, but Bearded Dragons and Leopard Geckos don't seem to mind too much.

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"Eagles may soar, but weasels don't get sucked into jet engines." - John Benfield

I hold my snakes everyday that I can.....just not while shedding or after they ate.
My BP, Scout, goes everywhere with me when it's warm out. Walmart even welcomes her! LOL But the grocery store yelled at me! LOL I just hide her in my shrt when we go to that store!

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Some think they can. Some wish they could. Some do.

I also hold my snakes at least once a day for 10-30 minutes (each) when they are not in shed or just after a meal. (I usually feed them on different days so there is always one or two to take out).
They all seem to enjoy it or at least tolerate it and often they struggle when I try to put them back.
I've found that my Brazilian Rainbow Boa Talyn gets better and better with regular handling: she used to strike and bite every time. Now she's usually really mellow and enjoys exploring a bit.
I guess it depends a lot on the species: I've had green snakes, garter snakes and now these BRBs and my BP -- I always held them all as often and as much as I could.

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Andrea

I handle my snakes, some dont like to be handled like my BP and Garter, so I dont handle them very much, but all my others dont mind, I don't handle them as much as my lizards, although I do have a chameleon and he wont tolerate handling either he is a grump so I just leave him alone and just handle if really necessary...

I take Gil to Target with me quite often during the summer. I took him to WalMart once... they kicked me out (as I was leaving)!!

Gil is handled often... I think igs need that in order to maintain a good level of socialization, though.

As stated it depends both on the species as well as the individual animals disposition. Some really do not like to be handled and display their displeasure in forms like struggling, biting, scratching, musking or just taking a good healthy dump on you! Some will tolerate it and some (bearded dragons for instance) do seem to outright enjoy it. Probably more they enjoy the heat of your body!

As far as them always seeing you as a predator, a large percentage of herps are captive bred and have learned from day one of their lives that humans are the source of food, NOT a predator and as such do not fear us. That is one of the reason that captive bred animals make much better "pets".

Animals like iguanas if not handled regularly will become aggressive and unmanageable, while chameleons well actually stress, sicken, and die, if handled too much.

You have to let your knowledge of the species and observation of the particular animals tell you what is right for them. There is no blanket across the board rule that you can or cannot can handle every species.

That would be FAR too easy!

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Merlin,
What's Life Without A Little Magic!