"cutting the pythons neck"? God. Poor snake.
Okay everyone, I want us all to practice for the first time a ball python latches and wraps. Grab a pencil. Ready? Okay! Go! Stick it between the ball python's jaws. Don't jab him, just put it in his teeth the way you do with a Q-tip to check his mouth. HE'LL LET GO. IMMEDIATELY. PROBLEM SOLVED. PUT HIM BACK IN HIS TUB, QUICK, AND PLEASE FEED HIM.
(If you've never done a mouth check with Q-tip, now is a good time to practice that.)
