Hello again snake people,
I'm fairly new to snakes and just got my ball python a week ago. I bought it from a lady whose son didn't want to take care of it anymore. I'm not sure if it was abused or not but it did have some scars from either burns or something else on its scales. The lady told me it got injured from escaping and they the had to take it to the hospital. I know your not supposed to handle them right away because they just changed their home and can stress them, but I got excited and did it anyway. The next day she was hissing at me when I tried to move her out of her enclosure to clean it. She hasn't coiled up and tried to strike me yet, but she's hissing at me. I kept her feeding schedule and food the same from the previous owner and shes eating well. I haven't touched her since she hissed at me. How long before this behavior goes away? Or will I just have to work with handling her more so she can get used to it? I know your not supposed to handle them too often because it stresses them out, so how often should I handle her to get her used to people? Here are the burn marks from either the light from the previous owners. Anyone know if the scars will ever go away? or how long? Thanks everyone! The head looks like there's a scab on it.
https://imgur.com/a/W0WfdM4