I agree with what others have said.
You have probably figured out(or will) the male retics growth will slow down before a females. In fact a lot of adult male pythons"eat to live" where just about all female pythons "live to eat".
I had one big (17 foot) male retic we called Mr. January. He would eat 6 huge rabbits in Jan., 4 in Feb., 2 in March and MAYBE 2 in April. That was it. He would'nt eat again until Jan.
He would breed all fall and into the winter but once January hit, look out. He was dog tame but I would'nt even consider handling him in Jan. and Feb.
Now noone wants to get bit. But it's not the end of the world.
I'm all for being careful, careful is good. And of course anytime you open the cage your entire focus should be on that animal. My prediction when you do get bit you will be more angry than hurt. Of course never let a large snake wrap you up.
I would feed him more, like you said he is hungry after fasting since Oct. If you have a friend that can watch great.
What I do with friends is they watch... that's it.
I have a lot of really big snakes and I need to know I can handle them by myself. So they watch until I tell them I need help. This just tells me where I am in relation to my age(52) and strength compared to the snake. Good Luck take a breath you'll be fine. D.C.

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