Have you made any changes at all like where his enclosure is in the house, the setup, any news pets etc? I'm not sure what could make him go funny like this except for environmental changes. Could the temperatures be cooler in his viv? I've personally never noticed any personality changes with mine from year to year.

When you move towards him move very slowly and he won't bite, if he rears and goes into a striking position stop moving, because you've stopped moving your hand towards him he no longer views your hand as an immediate threat, he'll eventually straighten out and try and move away, at this point you can pick him up safely, once your holding him he won't bite. This is my approach to picking up nervous hatchlings and I rarely get bitten.

I also feed them whilst holding them, I place a food item onto a peice of kitchen towel and lower the snake to the food, they seem to tame quickly this way. You could also occasionally place your hand in the viv infront of the snake as close as the snake seems comfortable with and just hold it there for a few minutes then removing your hand, the snake will eventually learn that your hand is no danger and may even go to it to investigate.

Hope you can sus out the problem soon!

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