Yes Anthony, you're on the right track! You just want to approach the snake slowly and deliberately. Just reach in and smoothly pick the snake up from the side about 1/3 to 1/2 way down the length of the body. If you come at it rapidly or jerkily, like you were nervous about it, it will make the snake suspect that you are up to no good. Trust me, as sensitive to vibration as snakes are, as soon as you rattle the top it will know you are there. It just has to determine whether you are friend, foe, or food!
I personally would not recommend Blackjack's technique of dropping a cloth on its head. This may work fine with rainbow boas but BPs are already so naturally head shy that it is going to spook them right off the bat. Better just to let them know its you and pick it up. Something that you can do to aclimate it to your scent is to take a tshirt, wear it for a day or two and get it good and sweaty with your body odor and then put the shirt in the tank. This makes the snake come to think of your scent as a normal harmless part of its environment. This trick is frequently used byt keepers with very aggressive snake. It will probably not be necessary with your bp but it also won't hurt anything if you wish to try it.
And the bite even from an adult BP is not that big a deal. A domestic cat will do far more damage.
