I honestly don't agree with rating the snake's attitude by species. Back in the day, long before I was around, all retics were nasty and ball pythons were just as unsociable, only they chose to flee or coil up and starve themselves. Blood pythons are the same way today. You can only rate snakes accurately by individuals, not species, similarly with people. There are many rock pythons that have been recorded as very gentle individuals, just like ball and Burmese pythons. Most of this can be tracked down to their origin, as captive breeding always seems to break the aggressive image.