Gorgeous snake! I don't know much about this species other than they have a reputation for being cage aggressive. If that's the case with this guy, I would suggest wearing leather gloves to take him out. That will give you the confidence to reach right in and pick him up without showing any fear or hesitation. I would also suggest hook training as well. Not to pick him up with the hook necessarily, but rather just to touch him with it to let him know that it's not feeding time then keep the hook between his head and your hand while you're grabbing him. Once you have him out, chances are he probably won't try to bite anymore. Keep your handling sessions short and sweet at first and always try to end them on a positive note, by letting him gently crawl from your hands back into his enclosure.
As far as feeding, after much experimenting and frustration with a couple of picky eaters, what i've learned that works extremely well for getting them switched over to frozen/thawed is, thawing the rats out to room temperature then using a blow dryer (I use a heat gun) to heat them up. If he is showing interest in the rat by coming up to it and flickering his tongue at it and/or rubbing up against it or following it around you have him right where you want him. Just keep heating the rat back up and offering it again. If he doesn't end up taking it, don't give in and give him live. Just rinse and repeat the following week on the next feeding day. I've been using the blow dryer method for the past 3 weeks and I can attest that it works miraculously! Not only are the couple picky eaters I had snatching the f/t up immediately now, but all of my other snakes are ravenously pacing back and forth at the front of their enclosures at feeding time from the heat gun blowing rat smell all over in the room!
And, for your entertainment pleasure...
White Lipped Python Bite:
I hope this helps...
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