With Tweezers!
Hehehe, seriously though, gentle is good but don't let the snake be in control, that is your job. It sounds like the snake is happy with the way you are handling at the moment so if you are happy with it too I don't see any reason to change. Just keep on keeping on and all should be fine. It's probably more important to be in control if you ever handle large or larger snakes. Just do what makes the two of you happy
