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It is completely normal and acceptable to demand dinner while looped through a couple baby toys. That's what Sakura says, and I believe her.

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Hey! I can't remember if I asked this when it happened years ago, but I was fostering a ball python for a roommate while he was in the middle of moving out of his old place into the apartment I lived in, and the snake would climb all over me when I was handling him, but occasionally made these "huff" noises, like what a person would do if they were frustrated/irritated. They seemed like very intentional noises, not something like a cough or sneeze or other indicator of respiratory infection or distress. He did it a lot the one time I had him out for hangout time, but otherwise didn't do it much if at all. Do snakes do this for some particular reason, or was he just an oddball? I'm trying not to anthropomorphize his behavior but I genuinely can't think of any reason why he'd be "huffy" while exploring unless he was irritated or frustrated by trying to dig into soft material like my sweater or blankets. Any ideas?

Heyas!

That's almost assuredly a respiratory infection you were hearing. Snakes don't use passive breathing like we humans do, where our trachea is pretty much default open unless we've initiated a swallow or we're intentionally holding our breath. We breathe more or less quietly most of the time because we're constantly taking light breaths and our glottis is pretty much always open.

Snakes don't take as many breaths per minute as humans do. They use less oxygen to fuel their metabolism so they don't need to be constantly inhaling fresh air and exhaling waste gasses. A snake's glottis (the opening that leads to the trachea) is held closed unless the reptile is actively inhaling or exhaling. This is kinda similar to a whale or dolphin breaching to take a breath. If you're handling a snake you might be able to feel it or hear a little exhale/inhale, but it shouldn't be more audible than your own normal breathing. If you're hearing anything that sounds like an intentional huff or hiss, and the snake isn't in a defensive display and otherwise inviting you to heck off, then something is obstructing their breathing and causing them to breathe hard. That's generally either a very obese snake, a very weak snake that is exhausted from their efforts, or a snake with a respiratory issue of some sort.

I know it was a super long time ago and I'm not sure if you still even have contact with that person, but if they've still got the snake and he's still making that noise they may want to have it checked out by a vet.

Fun Fact: Snakes can also stretch their glottis all the way out of their mouths to allow them to breathe while eating. It's really gross but quite practical!