Curious Behavior

[Bogertophis]

One general difference between a king snake & a rat/corn snake is that a king is more terrestrial & a burrower, whereas rat/corn snakes use their vision more
because they spend more time above ground & climbing. It's like apples & oranges...they're both good.

But I've known many of each over quite a few years, and some king snakes (not saying all) are more likely to insist that your hand might be edible...remember
that snakes are NOT logical & don't use vision to know what fits, etc. While the strong feeding response (in both king & rat snakes) is fun, I can handle a rat
snake after feeding it without a bite, but wouldn't recommend trying that with a king. To me, the snakes that live above ground mostly & spend time actively
hunting are not only more visually-skilled but seem smarter. (the same as with pine/bull/gopher snakes too)

Remember these are just generalities, & the amount of time you spend handling as well as the individual's genetics will influence how any snake you raise turns
out. One thing about colubrids that's WAY different (I would say "better") compared to BPs is that handling them does not tend to influence their appetite. I
have even taken my 2 large (7') male Florida rat snakes to a kid's "show & tell" at a library where they were handled & touched quite a bit, then I put them in
travel containers & fed them f/t mice for the kids to watch, & even took them out briefly afterwards, all on good behavior. Don't do that with a king or a boa.

BTW, that was the first & ONLY time I ever tried feeding snakes in public, & the interesting thing to me is that these same snakes at home are monsters about
grabbing food & constricting, even though it's always dead prey. But there, because they'd been handled, they reacted quite differently: they hesitated and then
ate "politely"! The unusual circumstances (not at home & being handled a lot prior) apparently made all the difference to them, & I really wanted them to act
naturally, the same as at home (for the kids to see) but they're just too well-behaved, lol... And if you like snakes that are more "polite", I give the highest
scores to Trans Pecos & Bairds rat snakes.

What the heck, get one of each & decide for yourself!