By the way, you described how he struggled pretty hard to fight what you were doing-"I felt terrible trying to restrain him and he was really giving it everything he had to get out of my hands." -that pretty much tells me that you were holding him too tightly, too forcefully, & also put him at risk of injury to himself by hurrying the process. You have to find the right balance for gently holding & guiding a snake so they cooperate- too much force & they respond just as we would if put in a choke-hold: with fear, panic & fighting your every move. But when you do it right, relaxed & with empathy, you'll get it done without either of you suffering too much. Be more patient with snakes- they don't understand what you're trying to do- try to imagine how it would feel to be in their place.