I remove all my snakes when cleaning. This way, I don't either a) get mistaken for food or b) scare them and get them defensive.
AND KEEP HIM AWAY FROM THE CATS or KEEP THE CATS AWAY FROM HIM!
I had a BP who got defensive because I had a dog marking the base of his tank stand. Took me forever to figure out what was going on, but once I did, he was a different BP. I cannot imagine what actually have the cats near him would do to him. He's thinking PREDATOR!!!!!!!