I went through a period where my SST girl made me nervous: this was after a couple "rodeos" that she put me through where she was a striking, lunging, hissing mess. She was getting into a sub adult age at this time.
I got some great advice to basically take it slow and to don't be nervous when handling the snake as they can pick up on it. My advice is to do short handling sessions with the snake a few times a week (a few minutes even to start) and only when the snake has calmed down (ie no hissing, bluffing, striking) is when you can put them back as a "reward". This worked for my Hog BCI too: she would come out hissing and bluffing and only when she calmed down is when I would put her back and I believe they'll get to knowing that if they're bad they can get out of handling.
Also I found that just going right in there and picking up the snake (supporting the whole body as sometimes these guys can freak out when being lifted up) is a lot less stressful on the snake than hesitating and hovering over the snake trying to figure out how/when to pick it up. Confidence really worked for me, and as time went on my girl has made a wonderful turnaround. She can still be nervous but it's night and day to how she was: you can also start to gauge a snake's behavior as sometimes I know it's best to not mess with her (ie when she appears to be getting defensive if she's in blue, etc).
Also check your temps: my bloods, like my boas, like it a tad cooler than my other pythons and once I turned the heat down their behavior got more relaxed too.
Hope some of this helps, and hopefully one day your guy (especially when he gets some size on him if he's not already an adult) will calm in time and be able to be a lap snake.
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