that much space would terrify a baby to the point it wouldn't eat

I suspect you've encountered this in your readings, but you know you should never feed and house a snake in the same enclosure? Doing so greatly enhances the likelihood of being bitten. (If you haven't encountered it, somewhere on the internet is a listing of Stupid Feeding Errors that was very helpful to my family when we boarded two ball pythons.)

Also, I would love to help you socialize your snake. I've been quite herp-deprived for some time now.