I've got a Pueblan Milksnake (Ringo). I've had him over a year, so he's about 20 months old. He has got musking down to a fine art and if he doesn't want to be handled I get musked - and so does everything in sight Once he's been out for a while he calms down. Depends a lot on what mood he's in. If he's not in a handleable mood he certainly lets me know about it (yuk). I know the feeling of having a live, wriggly pencil only too well. Ringo's just under 30" long now and can move like lightning when he wants. He's quite a character and was my first snake. I've got 14 snakes now