Originally Posted by rather_unique
Greetings,
We have both, a corn snake and royal. We've owned the corn for over two years and the royal for just a bit more than a year. Regarding the personality of either- all I can say is that your mileage may vary. Our royal is seen out and about, exploring his cage, much more than our corn snake is. The corn snake is always hiding but the royal comes out almost every evening unless he's in shed or is digesting a meal. I think on the whole corn snakes may be more active but it's not the case with our critters.
There are a couple other issues I would focus on- longevity and frustration levels. Corns will live up to 15 years or so but a royal has the potential to live over 20 years and that's a big commitment. Corns are typically awesome feeders, while royals are known for being picky and going off feed for tremendous lengths of time. Corns are very tolerant to mistakes in husbandry and thrive under keeper mistakes. Royals require more accurate temps and humidity and seem to be more prone to stress (although I haven't experienced this myself).
Personally, I find I'm more fond of our royal than our corn. He's quite the mellow fellow, is a great feeder, sheds well and has been healthy and growing. So far I have had no grief with him on any level. Also, in general I like the way royals look more than I do corns. Stockie bodies, lovely colors and patterns. But this is just my opinion.
On the other hand, there are million corn morphs out there and many of them are absolutely stunning!
The only good advice I can give is a) be prepared to commit to the animal for a long time, no matter which one you choose and b) purchase from a private breeder and NOT a pet store. In my experience pet store folks are often ignorant so don't believe half of what they say. Ask questions on sites like this and get yourself some books on whatever species you're interested in or own.
...just my 2 cents
Good luck.
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