Biting ball

[RockNRollProcelain]

Well, seeing as how she's a rescue, there are a multitude of reasons that she could be acting the way she is. As you said, maybe she was never handled. Or perhaps she was mishandled. How is the husbandry for her? If snakes have the wrong husbandry, they can be stressed and tag you. How often are you taking her out to handle her? How long do you handle her when you take her out? Taking her out too much could be stressing her out and making her aggressive. Also, if she nips and you immediately put her back in her tank every single time she does it? She's going to learn that being nippy will get her left alone. Only one of my snakes has ever been slightly nippy, and when he was nippy, I'd continue to hold him for a few minutes. When he was nice and calm again, exploring around my hand and arm, I'd put him back in his tub to clean up my hand. He never got me real good, and he was a tiny little thing when he'd try it.

So things to help you and her not be stressed by interactions? I'd say cut down handling time to just a couple times a week, for no longer than 45 minutes each. Don't immediately put her back if she tags you. You don't want that connection made. Think about the possibility of hook training her. It may help with the association between handling/exploring time versus feeding time, which may help with some tagging. If she's acting stressed, just leave her alone. This tip may seem a little off-the-wall, but playing classical or new-age music seems to have a calming effect on my snakes. I do not know if this is a universal thing, but I can say that my snakes Leo and Mellan are prone to acting anxious when they're handled. When I first got Leo he HATED being handled. He was so stressed my SO and I were a little worried about him. I put on some classical music, and he almost instantly stopped freaking out, curled around my wrist, and didn't move for the next 30-40 minutes. We started using the music to get him used to being handled because he'd never stress out when it was playing. The vibrations from the music must feel nice or something - I wish I knew exactly what it was. So you could always try that. And, as always, make sure your husbandry is spot on. Anything being off could lead to a stressed out snake!

Hopefully she starts to realize that you're not a threat to her. She's probably just feeling very stressed due to past experiences, or because us people are so much bigger than our little snakes. =] With time and patience, she'll relax. I don't think re-homing her would be the best option, however. It would merely add to her stress. Best of luck, and I hope some of this has helped you!