Are there any amateur herpitologists reading here?

Yesterday just after having spent hours working in a particular spot, I saw
a Tiger Snake there. When I told my husband he said, "But he's such a
friendly snake". (And to think I've been married to this goose of a man
for nearly 40 years!)

Anyway, I was telling a neighbour this tale of husband silliness and they
said that snakes are cranky at the moment as it's breeding season. My
response was that I thought they bred earlier in the season. Neighbour then
said that it could be that they are shedding their skins now and that is why
they are cranky. I checked with a friend whose son has pythons and she said
they do get cranky when they shed their skins and that she once had to help
to wrestle a snake into a bathtub to aid it when it failed to shed as it
should and it got super cranky.

The sum total of this all these exchanges made me realise that although I
frequently see snakes, I don't know lot about them. I know a fair amount
about the birds and other animals aroudn here but not snakes.

Does anyone know anythign about the life cycle of snakes? Or a good book on
the subject?