To me it was obvious that they were coached on snake handling and maybe practiced before the competition. Because they were not snake people and some were terrified; they moved with confidence and actually handled the snakes pretty gentle considering their experience.
I thought it was funny that the Carpet Python was usually the least cooperative about going in the box- so typical.
I was surprised that the show/trainers trusted a Green Tree Python as one of the picks. That one was pretty chill.