Are all rat snakes aggressive?

[Bogertophis]

I know this is an older thread but I wanted to address the OP's question. I have a regular black ratsnake (albino). I got her when she was a hatchling, she's now about 9 months old. She is extremely gentle and docile. She's also very playful and curious. I have seen videos of aggressive ratsnakes, and I'm sure there is an inborn personality factor .. but the key is to hold them daily, and especially get them used to lifting up the hide and taking them out so they don't feel threatened by this. My snake has never snapped at me, "rattled' her tail, or musked at me.

Always nice to hear from another happy rat snake owner! They do learn & are very responsive snakes. It helps to have them when they are growing up, but that's true of nearly everything...it's always harder to change old habits, so even a captive-bred rat snake can be feisty if it has grown up not being handled properly, or being fed live rodents that it must do battle with...that too can make snakes more defensive. Snakes seem to generalize, whether it's human handlers & calmly accepting those they don't know, or just staying defensive because they are fed live rodents...pre-killed, either frozen/thawed or fresh, makes the best pets, not just safer & healthier but calmer.I do agree though that snakes have some individual "inborn" tendencies to either be feisty or calm...so some we might have to work a little harder with than others. I know this because of having raised numerous clutches of rat snakes...in each group, some may be feistier than others & take longer to calm down. Perfectly normal.

I hope you'll keep us updated on your albino black rat snake, FollowTheSun...maybe start a thread to share? Rat snakes as a group need more owners to
speak up for them...they are still over-coming the negative stereotype from years past when many were sold in pet stores that were wild caught.