I did try and reach in. He struck at me several times. Eventually we got him out with a hook (which he struck at too), and you could tell he was really stressed being out.
I may put him in a different room. The other males I have are 2 shelves up and 3 shelves down, so I dunno if he smells them, or he just wants to be a crazy striking snake.
Its a total 180 from when I first got him. He was pretty relaxed. Though I suspect the people I got him from didn't give him the best of care (he has a large scar - maybe 6 or 7 inches along his back, which was was told was from mites). We'll see how it goes.