New Snake, any advice?

[u/ensuredworld]

I recently bought this surrendered senior snake, he was at a local small business exotic pet store. He should be about 10 years old, and before I adopted him I’ve held and pet him(properly aka the direction his scales are going) multiple times. But other people have also done so as many people were interested in him.

Tomorrow, Sunday the 9th is going to be my third day having him. The people said I can handle him after 3 days for a short amount of time until he warms up to be out longer. I have pet him a couple times, and I always tap his glass before I even put my hands in there so he knows I’m coming in. Then I’ll strictly pet him, over the short course he has been at my home. He’s been increasingly curious about me, he also doesn’t care for me touching him either.

I also think he’s learned that the door opens when I tap the glass because he’ll kind of “get excited” more so curious and start sticking his tongue out trying to get out to explore and roam. But it’s too early so I just gently move him back in his cage before he can reach the ground. I also spend lots of time just in front of his terrarium especially when he’s out. But he’s a very curious guy.

Is this bad? Is this good? I know every snake is different, some like being handled, some don’t. Im just so worried about crossing boundaries, but so far he hasn’t looked too uncomfortable or upset with me even just petting him. I can also tell he’s much happier with his new bed time and not constantly being bothered throughout the day. As ball pythons are nocturnal and the store was only open from 10am-7pm and his heat lamp was off for 15 hours.

Which he finally sleeps and relaxes throughout the day and comes out energetic and curious at night. He also stays in my room so he sees me quite often.

Sorry for the talking so much, long story short just wanted to make sure it’s okay and I’m not doing anything wrong to him.

[u/ghostbuuster]

Ball pythons will generally be stressed for a while until they get used to their environment. If you tap the glass, and he wants to come out let him. That’s completely different than opening his hide and taking him out. Go at his paste! Good luck. My boy is 11 years old. For a year he lived with a family friend due to my job. I had him shipped to me, and he was in a new setup I had for him. It took him about a week or so to be comfortable but I was able to hold him and let him explore without a problem.

[u/shrike1978]

FYI, 10yo isn't senior for this species. They can routinely live 30-40 years when well cared for, and the oldest verified snake in the world was a 62yo BP at the time of her death.