If you think that rat snake is laughing, you don't know rat snakes. Then again, maybe he IS laughing, an evil laugh...& waiting for you.

I haven't kept any VBBs, but I actually prefer the colors of the Taiwan Beauty rat snakes & didn't find them hard to manage at all. They DO have an endless appetite, & they ARE fast & active snakes (more like a "racer"), but when handled from hatchling size, I didn't have many nips at all- much like other rat snakes I've lived with. But they DO get quite large.

Good luck with your VBB-dream.