It's really hard to handle a cornsnake with a snake hook. ALL cornsnakes rattle, given the right circumstances. It means you startled me, don't bother me, don't bother me I'm eating, etc. It doesn't mean I'm going to bite you, necessarily. If it did, I'd be getting bt multiple times a day.
If you know your snake is under a hide, it is less likely to bite you if you remove the hide quickly and pick the snake up gently in a clump before he either thinks about running or thinks about striking. it doesn't hurt so much when they bite anyway, especially babies. Once you have the snake picked up and out of the viv, it is not very common for the snake to bite, and definitely rare for the snake to bite the hand that is holding him. You just have to read his body language at that point and see if he is relaxed enough to let him roam around and climb on your hands, or if he is flighty or frightened and likely to take a flying leap, in which case it's better to cuddle him up in a little ball in your cupped hands, held up against your body, until he feels safer/calmer.
