The spotted python I am adopting is a rescue & has not been feeding, so she may be a bit of work, we'll see; her conditions have been poor & I hope that she has not actually become sick because of it, the guy who has her has been FORCE feeding her so I imagine she will be pretty stressed. (she should be arriving tomorrow) I kinda thought MBK could be Mex black king, but I didn't want to assume....yeah, those are beautiful sweet creatures, I used to have a pair. The cal kings are often high strung: when I used to breed them I refered to the hatchlings as "rainbirds" (like the lawn sprinklers) because their tails were always flipping feces...you didn't mention how big/old your cal-king is....they get better with time and patience....is he a biter? (again, patient gentle handling: actually snakes All have to Learn to be handled, 'cause whatever picks 'em up in the wild is normally a predator! And humans sure look like big ugly predators, so cut him some slack!) When you hold a nervous snake, I find it helps to imagine yourself in his "shoes" and give him a sense of hiding. When I was given my Mexican boa (known for nasty!!!) she was only 30" long but was considered the Snake From Hell (sfh)!!!!!! The guy who had her had other snakes but was repelled by her behavior (they scared each other!); she was already apprehensive about hands, so I used a clean wash cloth gently put over her so she could "hide", while I continued to touch her gently; she hissed, and without the cloth would have been striking/biting; I would pick her up under the cloth and hold her on my lap awhile, letting her get used the the feeling of being touched/safe & warm. It took time, but otherwise I'd still have a maniac on my hands!!! (a 6 1/2' maniac at that) As it is, she is reliable & nice to handle, and very pretty: dark coloration, but great irridescense!!! Another thought someone once told me is that snakes don't bite the ground they crawl on.....BE THE GROUND!!!! Many snakes don't appreciate the usual clumsy human approach (hand in the face) and neither would we! So while your pet gets used to handling, like after the washcloth finally comes off, keep your hands underneath the snake (where they WANT to hang on securely) and out of his face (where he is apt to see your hand as a threat, and not necessarily part of the same thing he is sitting on!)
though, anything you know on how to calm it down would be appreciated.