Striking question

[Annarose15]

So, I changed all this around...while the snake was in the tank, it stayed in the hide as I was doing it, changed water etc...tried to not disturb him and didnt want to handle him...I know this was stressful for the snake, but it had to be done to get his habitat better:-) so it's changed up on the snake, but no more changes.

heres where I have a question...while I was sifting the substrate and getting it ready for new things, I was near the warm side hide where the snake was. As I was sifting in from of the hole, well, I pulled my hand back a little and good thing! All I saw was this camel brown/sand colored flash that was approximately 6" long emerge from the hide and retrieve...and I mean FAST!!! Like way faster then I would expect...it was lighting...not like a wobbly headed lunge/strike...it was like rattle snake or pit viper!!! No harm no foul...I figured I either got too close and it felt threatened, or since it was acting pretty confident and seemed to be acclimating well that he might of thought it was food time!!! It would make since...so, I decided to attempt to take the snake out and offer another feeding just in case...I know if they refuse your supposed to wait, but Im really just trying to figure out the snake...snake did not eat and was all about getting back into the tank even when it was crawling on me...the snake seemed very nervous and stressed at this point...so too soon I imagine, but I had to know...

i always thought and have been led to believe that BP's wouldn't strike unless they thought it was food, and that they ball up and hide their heads? This is why it surprised me and I thought if was hungry, not defensive? I then read that they will strike when and if they feel threatened enough...so now I'm just leaving the snake be and keeping the habitat good for it....and ill wait until next week to get him out and try again. And my hands were odor free from any food or pets...this is only pet I have:-) So I think he got a little scarred...the way it appears, he might be getting fed in the tank first time out...we will see, still too early to tell...

The bolded part is the only piece that I see that you are doing "wrong". Yes, the tank should have been set up prior to his arrival so you didn't have to mess with it and stress him out in the process. However, it's too late to worry about that. And yes, babies especially will defensively strike if they are stressed enough. Snakes rarely miss on a feeding strike, and then they latch down if they are trying to feed, so that is how you can usually know the difference between the two (misses or tags you but doesn't wrap). Don't move him anywhere to feed him, just offer every five days in his enclosure. He will settle down and take it soon enough. STOP handling him in the meantime.