It's not a matter of "trying to hold him less."
It's a matter of not handling at all. No handling til your snake has eaten three consecutive meals without refusal.
You'll have 25+ years to handle your snake.
Husbandry needs to be dialed in and the snake needs to be eating. Those should be your priorities. Not handling.
Your cool side temps need to come up, 73 is too low. Getting your CHE on a thermostat and set up properly will make a huge difference.