Young ball pythons are prone to stress and defensive behavior. Stop handling her until she is eating weekly for at least a month. Then do not handle her until 48 hours after she has eaten.
Do keep in mind that young ball pythons shed frequently as they grow--this can take over a week-and during this time some of them will refuse meals.
Offering food repeatedly creates stress and makes it less likely for the snake to accept the prey item. Only offer once/week-if you get a rejection-then do not offer again until the following week.
Do get a scale and do measure the prey item to make sure it is enough food relative to the weight of the snake. There are multiple feeding charts available online-they are good for guidance.
Your hot spot created by a UTH should not exceed 32.2C (90F). Your ambient temperature should not fall below 25.5C (78F). Both heat sources should be regulated by thermostats. Small ball pythons are forgiving with temperature variation in a large enclosure, large ball pythons in a small enclosure are not.
As for behavioral cues regarding hunger: I ignore them. I stick to a schedule. Over time you can start to identify a pattern with each individual ball python.
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