Ok, first off, as long as your conditions are correct, he has adequate places to hide, is shedding well, and is eating and pooping well, then you should be ok as far as not too much stress.
The majority of this forum are going to find the amount of attention you give this snake and and any perceived affection he may be giving you to be wrong. Most do not feel that snakes and most other non mammals have the ability to form bonds or feel love. They consider the brain structure to be too primitive to allow this sort of thing.
That said.... I do have reptiles that behave with what appears to be affection or as close as a reptile can get to being affectionate at least. I find this mostly in lizards and tortoises, but I have a few kingsnakes and a ball python in my collection that truly beg to come out and are perfectly content with being held... and they throw a fuss when I try to put them back too. I tend not to mention it on reptile forums much because it goes against popular opinion, but I have seen behavior from animals that shouldn't be capable of such over the years... stuff that really shouldn't be possible from such primitive creatures.... stuff that makes one stop and think sometimes. I dunno how it works... brain structure does not lie, but I have seen a snake that actually chose to be held over being fed... it only ate after crawling around on me for a bit. Weird as hell, but it happened every time.
So yeah, I believe ya.. not all snakes seem this way though, and it seems to be more common in some species than others, but I've seen it enough to think there might actually be some kind of affection involved, or at the very least a form of enjoyment or pleasure.
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