Strange Feeding Response and Tips for Feeding in Enclosure?

[Bogertophis]

Are you sure this is a male snake? Weight looks good in photos, but the appetite suggests a female to me. Just saying... Pretty snake, btw. Many snakes show a big
increase in appetite during warm summer weather- it's not only yours.

I've been feeding a countless # of snakes for about 34 years now*...ALWAYS in their normal enclosures without a problem with "cage aggression", lol. *For some years I
routinely had 85-90 snakes, though that number rose temporarily to about 150 with offspring in a few years...so I'm really "new" at this. Most normal healthy snakes
will see motion near their cage as possible incoming food: why? -they don't identify things accurately with vision...they need scent &/or touch to narrow it down, so don't
take it personal, just use their best senses to let them know what's going on. I often blow air across my hand thru the screen top in their direction so they get my scent-
they typically back off right away. You can even use a light spray of water to their face for a really stubborn snake...it's no different than getting rained on in the wild, but
it quickly 'changes their channel'. Some snakes (those that have been handled as your pet for a while) respond better to being touched, & if you need to keep your hands
out of reach, just use a "snake hook" or other stick of some kind (nothing sharp, obviously, but even dull BBQ tongs work fine, or a long cardboard tube from gift wrap roll will work).

As far as keeping substrate out of their mouths, I prefer to put something down (like a sheet of cardboard or box lid, or plastic tote lid) IF your snake tends to drag their
food around. Most of my snakes grab food right from my tongs & don't let loose enough to pick up debris, but I watch, in case, & use my 12" tweezers to pick a shred of
paper from their mouth that's about to be swallowed. (mostly colubrids here, kept on Carefresh/paper shreds) Minor stuff ingested will pass anyway, I'd worry more about them consuming orchid bark or any twigs, as snakes cannot digest wood/plant fibers & can get a blockage, though it's not real common.

It's frustrating but SO typical to have parents continue to treat grown kids as children, not adults....worse if you live with them, usually helps to move out on your own, lol. BTW, at 4.5 years old, your snake is an adult too, not a "rebellious teenager".