I'm so glad to read your account of this with such an awesome snake, because over the years, I've helped a pretty fair number of snakes to shed, & it's totally clear to me that they do understand & appreciate our help. Not always at first, just as you described, because instinctively when in shed, they feel both vulnerable & irritable...but once we're helping them, they totally get it. Snakes are "communication- challenged" but with understanding, empathetic owners, they totally make sense.
I had a similar situation recently- my 6' normally cranky Korean rat snake needed some help with shedding too, for the very first time in about 15 years. He's a snake that doesn't like handling & normally only tolerates just enough for me to put him in a side container to clean his large tank, & back again. Any more than that & he's shown his willingness to bite. So it was with a little trepidation that I helped him "undress" from his stuck shed, but though nervous at first, he never bit me, nor did he even try. And he's a "rat snake" in name only- his behavior (never sitting still) is more like a racer (which I do have past experience with).
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