My oldest and biggest carpet, Hazard, was a demon when I got her(baby). She came out of the sack striking at any and everything, even herself. I would hold her til she calmed down and if I got bit then I just got bit. I don't do the short handling cause to me if the snake take 20min to calm down and I only hold it for 10min then nothing was accomplished. I took her out everyday without a hook and held her til she would stop striking at everything.

Now she's just about 6ft and I can pick her up and ever put her around my neck with no worries. I also had another baby that I got a few months back that was the same way. Did the same thing with her and within a 2-3 weeks she stop striking. Hazard on the other hand, took close to 6 months. Out of my 12 carpets, only 2 has ever struck at me.