One thing that adds confusion with snakes is that the female snakes are generally going to instinctively want to eat more for breeding readiness, or to replenish after reproducing eggs or young, and that appetite can sure mimic aggression at times, especially to anyone with less experience. When you fill them up, they're plenty docile, but in general, some females (even when they've never bred) can seem very feisty for that reason.
Case in point: My 2.2. adult "Florida" (yellow blend) rat snakes. They're all about 15 years old now and never bred, but every year my 2 gals churn out double clutches of unfertilized eggs- as many as 30+ in the first clutch, & a lesser # in the second. You wouldn't BELIEVE how much these girls eat, before they lay eggs & especially after. But I never get bit- because I know how to communicate that it's "me", not food...but if you only judged by their actions, you might think!!! Incidentally, rat snakes are truly so much fun!
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