Do I have to constantly make sure the snake isn't getting away?

[jaks]

Hello. I've been thinking about getting a pet snake and just today I watched a video that talked about possible misconceptions and gave some tips, combining that with another video where this guy had 4 pythons and he was constantly poking in front of them so that they would retract, this just gives me the impression that if I were to get a pet snake I would constantly have to make sure all the time that he/she wasn't trying to get away. Is it really to that extent? Or could I ever just leave the tank open and let he/she go in and out at will? Would it change based on species?