My hatchling blood seems to be a lot more intelligent than my hatchling ball python just by the way he acts. My ball is still super shy and twitchy and would rather duck and hide than investigate. The second I open my bloods tub and get close to him or move his newspaper, his tongue is flicking and he wants to know whats going on.
The one thing different from a blood and a ball is the "blood stare". Blood pythons can freak people out if they are new to the snake because they just stare at your face. It's cool to watch their pupils move around to focus on you though.