Aleesha what's the hoggie like once he's actually out? Does he calm down then or still try to strike once he's out and away from his enclosure? The reason I ask is that Brannagh during the worst of her striking/biting time was far worse when we were in her "space" but calmer as we moved her away from it.

I'd say check the husbandry first, double check you are feeding an appropriate prey amount so the snake isn't hungry and then get a set of leather gauntlet style gloves and just have at it. We calmed Brannagh down by simply removing her, holding her firmly and under control and just letting her fight it out, once she calmed down she was allowed to go back in her enclosure. Eventually she got it through her snakey mind that her games wouldn't work, she couldn't drive us away, if she was calm life was better and nothing was hurting her. They may not do higher math but they aren't dumb about this stuff if it's done over and over and over again.

Remember too that if the snake intimidates you, it will know this. I firmly believe Brannagh could sense my fear of her aggression and when I was calm, she was less reactive to me. The kids were never allowed around Brannagh back then, now all 5 feet of her is flopped over anyone that wants to hold her (well except feeding day...she's still not a snake to mess about with on feeding day LOL).