If the snake is housed with another snake, that may be the cause of much of it's stress. I would HIGHLY advise separating the two. They are not social creatures, and do not benefit from being housed together.

It sounds like a nightmarish situation that they were in. The reason I asked about hides specifically is that hides that are too large do not offer enough security, and can lead to a snake feel more vunerable and more prone to strike defensively. Of course with another snake in the tank it's likely that the snake is feeling highly stessed, hides or not.

My best advice would be to separate ASAP. Get a rubbermaid container. You want 1 snake, 2 small hides, 1 water bowl all adequately heated in one enclosure. The newspaper is used loosely crumpled and tossed into the enclosure to make the snake feel more secure. It has helped quite a few on this site.