GillianC

So I did decide to try handling on Monday night. I made sure he was already out so that I wouldn't disturb him too much. Slowly and carefully I encouraged him to climb onto my hand - he did seem to prefer the branches and attempted escape, but with a little coaxing I got him to wrap himself around my fingers and just sit staring at me for a good 20 minutes. Didn't musk, didn't strike, just watched. My general rule of thumb when handling snakes is to more or less move at the rate that they move, so as not to unnecessarily startle them. Seemed to work with Harper, as when I went to put him back he didn't even try to hide immediately - he just calmly started exploring the branches in his enclosure. Better yet, his little excursion didn't even put him off food - he ate a scented pinky last night. All in all, it went quite well!