well first of all, He was draped across a branch and was indeed pretty vertical, which if you are at all familiar with red coachwhips you would know that they do this because my entire life I have seen them do this even on a cholla cactus.
Second of all, As I stated above, I DID NOT hold him like that for a long time he was held for a quick picture and then let back down, thats why if you look closely you can even see his body is not straight. As I set him down to let him go, he shot off like nothing happened straight up another tree.
Obviously I do not go around just holding snakes like that for long enough to hurt them in some way that you are referring to.