Welcome to the community @curiousgeorge! It seems like most everyone has covered all of your questions/concerns. Please don’t ever hesitate to reach out on here for advice or questions! What a beautiful rescue 
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Typically people will recommend against handling in an attempt to reduce stress on the animal. But some snakes are much more easily stressed than others, so as you get to know George better, you can get a better feel for how prone he really is to being stressed by handling. I think it’s generally a good idea to minimize handling for the first week or two after bringing a snake home, just to give them a chance to acclimate to their new surroundings. And I think it’s best to give them 24-48 hours without handling after they eat, just to give them a chance to digest without being messed with. But aside from that, a lot of it just comes down to learning what your individual snake does or doesn’t tolerate well. For example, lots of people advise against handling a snake in the day or two leading up to a feeding (so the snake doesn’t feel too stressed to eat)…and I’m sure that’s important for some snakes, but two out of three of my snakes will gladly take food immediately after being handled, so I pretty much disregard that “rule” with them.
I’m not a ball python person, so I’ll let those with more expertise answer the question about feeding intervals…but 7-10 days sounds about right to me. Feeding intervals are dependent on the species, age, and size of an individual snake, as well as the type and size of prey they’re eating. Younger/smaller snakes are fed more often, and then the interval between meals usually increases as the snake gets bigger and is able to take larger and more mature prey.
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Awww, hey thanks @akmorphs ! Isn’t he gorgeous! I finally was able to get a good look at the underside of his tail, and he is definitely, without a doubt, male!
He’s gorgeous! We got him a new enclosure today that is WAY bigger, he was able to stretch out full length and explored every corner of his new place! We still need a few supplies, but we gave him another meal today, and he LAUNCHED AT IT!! I was startled, though knew to expect it! Luckily I was using tongs, and his aim is fantastic for someone who has never hunted and has only been fed the one time last week by us in 6-8 months! Crazy hey?
I already want to get him a girlfriend, and fond a beautiful pastel lesser on a community marketplace… but taking into consideration everyone’s advice, AND the wishes of my snake-weary fiance, we are going to stick to just the one for now! Hahahaha! I know its the right call.
Thanks again! 
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Great, thank you! I tried to take a look at your store @lumpy but I didn’t see anything. Do you have a website or link? I’m probably doing it wrong! Hahaha!
OMG! I did not think about the fire hazard of the leaves 
. I have … a pressure cooker… but… okay. Boil thicker leaves. My moms street is lined in magnolia trees, but she’s over an hour away… and I’m lazy! Hahaha so probably order them! I am very interested in a Bioactive Enclosure setup.
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@jawramik Hey! Thanks, yea I was really uncertain about the handling of George, but we got his new enclosure today, and set it all up (pics will be coming soon! Its just Thanksgiving here! So its a busy day! So I had to handle him to transfer him to his new tank, an he kind of … I kinda pet him first just a little stroke with my finger because I had to approach him from above and didn’t wanna scare him, and then grabbed him about mid-body… I could feel his body kind of… I dont know if you say it with a snake but its called peristalsis I think. Like tensing and releasing… I assume this is just adjusting to being picked up… like any of us would? Or is this him displaying that he didn’t like that. His head came up towards my hand and I got a little nervous and almost dropped him in his new tank! Hahaha (I DIDN’T! Just almost did!)
I really appreciate all your information and help. I’m so glad I posted in here, people have been so kind and welcoming and enouraging.
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One of the cool things about holding a snake (at least to me) is how you can feel their muscles moving under their skin. What you felt was probably just him moving his body and holding on to you. But you can generally feel tension in their body when they’re nervous, and you can feel them relax when they start to settle down. As you handle him more, you’ll get a better sense of what his normal muscle movement feels like vs. when he might be tensing up a bit because he’s feeling nervous or stressed.
Snakes will move their heads closer to things they’re curious about, so odds are when he swung his head towards your hand, he was just inspecting your hand and had no plans to bite. Ball pythons are, for the most part, known for being very reluctant to bite defensively. It’s one of the traits that has made them the most popular species of pet snake. They tend to be quite docile and gentle. So I wouldn’t be too worried about him biting you. And just remember that even if he does nail you some day, he’s not going to do any serious damage. Most snake bites end up being more startling than painful.
Wait, how did you figure that out? Male and female BPs have spurs. The only way to sex them is via popping, probing or shed testing
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Hmmmm. Maybe he is “protruding where no other male has protruded before”?……. 
I can send my link to you over pm
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Then that can be a medical emergency. Prolapse is no joke in BPs
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Well I goofed again! 
. Thank you for reminding me of this! Somebody has to keep me in line Christina! 
. 
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Hahah, it happens. There was a turtle that liked to ah… “Show off” when he was mad at whoever was holding him when I worked as a vet tech. And every so often beardies or gecko will when they do some cleaning down there… But I have never really known anything outside of a musking kingsnakes to willingly flash a hemipene as a snake
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Hahaha I thought one hole in the middle was female, and two holes was male… My bad!!!
Haha, I know this is a joke, but I’m not gonna lie… I’m confused! Haha! I think I was wrong about the male part… thought that 1 hole identified a female, and two was male… but apparently no?? Idk… I’m not too worried WHAT “he” is as I am a LONG WAY OFF from getting him a gf! Lol 
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Hahahaha now I’m extra confused! I thought it was a joke I didn’t get… but Im lost now! Haha!
If you haven’t already, please do! I haven’t used PM’s before, so… if its not a straight forward notification, might take me a sec to find!
I don’t know how much you know about the reproductive anatomy of reptiles, but most (all?) male reptiles have two penises, called hemipenes. Normally these are stored inverted behind their cloaca (vent) and are not visible externally. They can evert the hemipenes so they protrude out the vent and are visible. With snakes, this typically only happens during the act of mating, but some other reptiles (like turtles and some lizards) will…erm…“let it all hang out,” as it were, at times outside of mating.
Edited to add that if a snake ever does have visibly protruding hemipenes when he’s not actively inseminating a female, it’s a medical emergency that requires a vet visit. Hemipenes can become prolapsed so the snake cannot invert them back inside their vent properly, and if not treated, this can be a source for serious infection and death.
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Also going to add on to @jawramik 's great answer…
Any time you see something fleshy poking from a BP’s vent it would be considered an emergency. Even with a female you can have a prolapse from egg laying or either sex can have intestinal prolapse.
The best thing to do in these cases is to move them onto some moist paper towels and call the vet
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