Cheddar! It's Bath Time! Wait..

[Coluber42]

Even for stuck shed, bathing is not necessarily the best approach under most circumstances. Ball pythons don't swim or soak much unless they're seeking relief from mites or the humidity has been too low or the temperature is too high, etc. If your snake poops and then smears it all over the place, maybe it needs a bath, but otherwise it's just going to be stressful to get stuck in a container with water. If anything, it can remove the skin secretions that help the shed detach and actually cause shedding issues.

As far as "bonding" goes, the best thing you can do is give your snake a chance to learn that you aren't a threat. Some individuals are more inquisitive and more bold than others, and some have more tolerance for handling and being outside the cage than others. Time exploring outside the cage can be good exercise and good enrichment, but it can also be a very stressful experience. It takes time and patience and learning to read your snake's behavior, and a lot of patience, for the snake to learn to feel comfortable exploring out in the open.

As far as behavior goes, keep this in mind: Ball pythons aren't social, which means they don't have any reason to communicate their emotional state with other individuals. That makes it harder to learn how to read their behavior, because they are just doing what they do - they have not developed ways of making their behavior obvious for purposes of conveying information. A squirrel, a sparrow, a mouse, etc, is easier to read because it has behaviors (tail movements, vocalizations, body gestures, facial expressions, etc) that have developed specifically to communicate fear, threats, relaxation, food, etc. Those animals live in groups and the group benefits from sharing that kind of information.

A BP does not live in groups or care for its young, so it has no reason to communicate its emotional state to others and doesn't have methods for doing so. But that doesn't mean it can't be scared, inquisitive, relaxed, hungry, etc; it just means it's hard to tell. It can be hard to tell the difference between inquisitive behavior and flight behavior, for example.

So behaviorally speaking, there's your challenge.