So today I scrutinized several DIY's on how to assist a snake if it had an incomplete shed. After reading about 4-5 posts, all saying to do the same thing, but in different words, I put Nergal in a container of lukewarm water for an hour.
I then took him out and ran him through a wet wash cloth.
The shed wouldn't come off in anything but little pieces--and he had only shed a small piece under his chin by himself.
I got it all off by gently peeling and rubbing with the towel, and he was very calm. I also managed to get a small piece that went around his labial pits, and the top of his head. I did NOT mess with his eyes, and I didn't see any eye caps come off at any point.
So, this brings me to my point of concern.
I fed Nergal an adult mouse, which he struck at and got, but on the mouse's side. It took him over an hour to finally move up to the head of the mouse, and so before he did I put him back in his tank so he couldn't climb out of his feeding box, and let him eat the rest there.
Well, I checked on him a few minutes ago, by lifting up his rock. I wanted to feed him his other adult mouse because I know one is not enough for him. So I held the mouse by the tail with my tongs and dangled it over his mouth.
He immediately s-shaped, and was slithering towards, not the mouse, but my hand. I knew he was going to bite me, and not the mouse, because the whole time he had his eyes fixed on my finger.
Sure enough, he bit me when I was trying to pull the mouse away.
I have a picture--he barely got me at all, and released right away, but my concern is, could he be visually impaired somehow and have thought I was the mouse? It seemed like he knew I wasn't food, but was pissed at me and wanted me to leave him alone. I'm just worrying as I always do--he is my pride and joy, and I love him to death.
I refroze the mouse. Should I try feeding it to him again tomorrow, since he seemed really angry today?
Also, here's a picture--my first tag

Shellie