[Cazador]

I nice close-up would be great. Whenever I'm giving any sort of treatment that takes a while or that the snake may dislike, I always restrain them. For small snakes, you can put them in tubes, like 1/2" (1.5cm) aquarium tubes. It's a bit of work, but the trick is to get their heads inside and not let them back out. Then they can only continue to move forward until their head sticks out the other end.

For larger snakes, or when dealing with the cloaca, you can put them in a pillow case with just the part of the body that you're interested in sticking out. Then, if they try to thrash around, the pillow sheet gently restrains them and keeps them from musking all over you. It won't "tame" them, like the bathtub trick, but even calm snakes sometimes freak out when being examined/treated.

It's really bad to have them thrashing around wildly when you're holding their head because, unlike mammals, they only have one connection point between their vertebrae and skull.