This is my first post here. I've been reading for days learning sooo much so thank you all for that. I apologize in advance for the novel but I wanted to put a little history in this too before my question.

We have a 14 week old male bp that we brought home 4 weeks ago but I've been handling him since he was a hatchling. My sister is friends with the breeder so I was lucky enough to be able to get some hands on experience with him before bringing him home. Things so far have been good. He adjusted quickly to our home and seems to be happy. He has shed twice and eats a hopper mouse every Friday (he has since his first feeding). My daughter had him out last night while I cleaned his tank and he was all over her, then he took a little nap in her shirt and then spent half an hour peeking in and out of her armhole just taking it all in while she watched tv. This is pretty common with him. We handle him daily other than the 48 hours after he eats.

However, when I tried to put him back in the tank last night he started striking at me. He tried to strike 5 times, missed 4 times and bumped himself once (kind of another miss). I eventually got him back in by taking the whole top off the tank since he was striking whenever I tried to put him through the opening.

My question is why, I guess. Was I a threat since she is smaller than me? My hands were clean so I'm pretty sure I didn't smell threatening. Could he be hungry? He prowled the tank for about an hour before he settled in his warm hide. The breeder did say I may have to move him to 5 day feedings if he seemed to need it but I'm not sure what to look for to know if that's it. Could he have just been "done" with people holding him last night? Can they make a decision like, "Hey, she's trying to put me back in there and I don't wanna!!!"?

I'm just looking for some possible reasons as to why so I can do something differently next time.

Some tank info: 30 gallon tall tank with a warm side of 94 and a cool side of 80, 55% humidity. 4 hides (two warm, one cold and one in the middle. I know the tank is a little large for a baby but we have it full so he seems comfy. Lots of plants, rocks, hides and a few branches that he hangs out on.

TIA!