How Long Should I Leave My New Snake Alone Before I Handle Them?

It may be exciting to bring a new snake home, but as a new snake parent, you must wonder how long I should leave my new snake alone. Are you planning to bring a new snake home? Are you curious about how to handle the pet reptile and make it more accustomed to its new home? Then you need to know how long you should leave your new snake alone. 

How long do I need to leave my new snake alone? 

It’s critical not to handle your new pet snake for at least a week when it moves to its new home. Following the first seven days, you need to feed your snake once, but to ensure that it properly digests its meal, you will have to wait for another two days before you can finally handle your new pet. 

Snakes make one of the few reptiles that make an amazing pet. While they are typically not as affectionate to humans as cats and dogs, they can quickly get used to their owners and soon turn out to be friendly pets, especially if they are properly cared for. However, when you first bring your new snake home, you need to give it some time before you can handle it. 

After spending years dealing with pet snakes and other pet reptiles, we have gathered enough experience to guide you about how long you should leave your new snake alone. So let’s get started. 

Why Is Waiting Before Handling Your New Pet Snake Important?

When you bring a new snake to your home and place it in its new tank, the experience of traveling from one place to another can be quite stressful for the reptile. Snakes often get disoriented by their travel. Moreover, their senses are also over-stimulated due to changes in the environment that they experience in their new tank. 

Given that your new pet experiences a lot of stress when it comes to a new environment, it’s best to give them some time so they can adjust to their new surroundings before you start handling them.

After all, when a snake is already stressed out and is handled by someone entirely new to them, it can further escalate the stress levels of the snake and heighten its fight or flight mode, and your new pet might bite you to protect itself.  

By waiting for at least a week before you handle your new snake, you give your pet a chance to get used to the new environment. Once the snake is acclimatized to the new environment, it won’t find it unusually stressful to be handled by someone who is new to them. Moreover, since you have given enough time to the snake to get used to its environment, it will also no longer consider you as a threat. 

What Happens When You Don’t Wait a Week Before Handling Your New Pet Snake?

If you don’t wait for a few days before you handle your new pet snake, you put your snake at the risk of getting into a stress cycle where your already stressed snake experiences compounded stress by your handling, which scares your pet of you. 

Moreover, it can also slow down your pet’s time to get used to you and develop a bond with you. The heightened stress levels don’t only slow down the bonding process but can also put you at risk of getting bitten by your snake. Since snakes instinctively have a fight or flight response, when they are stressed or are trying to protect themselves, it further escalates, and they may end up biting you. 

Furthermore, heightened stress levels can take a toll on your pet’s body and immune system. When your pet remains stressed for longer, it can weaken its immune system, which in turn can lead to several health problems for your pet and may even result in an early death because of these stress-related health conditions. 

How Do I Handle My New Pet Snake?

Now that you know that you need to give your new pet snake some time before you can handle it, you must be wondering how you handle your new pet snake once it has acclimatized into the new environment. 

Handling your new pet snake is a step-by-step process so you can bond with your new snake in the least stressful way. When you bring your new pet snake home, it’s obviously the day when you will have to handle your snake and place it in its new tank

Moreover, before you place your new pet snake into the tank, you will also have to check your snake’s physical health to get an idea of how well your new pet is doing. That’s when you check for signs of mites or wounds, or mucus around the mouth area.

Moreover, also ensure that your new pet snake doesn’t have dull eyes. If you notice any unusual wounds or mites or your snake has dull eyes, make sure you get in touch with the breeder as well as contact your vet for your snake’s checkup. 

However, if your new pet doesn’t show any signs of physical illness, make sure that you safely place the snake in its new tank and leave it for at least a week. 

During this week, you don’t have to handle your new snake but have to ensure that you daily spot clean their tank and keep a check for any signs of illness or injuries. Moreover, you should also check whether your new pet snake is shedding or not. 

How Do I Give My New Snake Its First Meal? 

After leaving your new pet snake alone for seven days, it’s time to offer them their first meal. However, before you offer them the meal, it is important to handle them for a minute or two. If your new pet snake doesn’t try its food, it is a good idea to leave your new pet snake alone for another day before you offer them the food again. If your new pet snake still doesn’t accept the food, it’s best to leave your new pet snake alone for another week before trying again. 

However, if your snake tries its first meal, it is an indication that your new pet has acclimatized to the new environment. Following the first meal, you should still wait for another 24 to 48 hours before you handle them again. Waiting to handle your snake following its first meal ensures that your new pet properly digests its food and doesn’t throw up its meal. 

After this time, you can start handling your snake for a few minutes daily. You can gradually increase the time you handle your snake until you continue to handle them for 15 to 20 minutes at a time.

However, you should ensure that you don’t keep your new pet snake outside their tanks for more than 30 minutes at a time as the outside environment (temperature and humidity levels) may not be ideal for them.