Ok, most have covered this very well.

I will ad a few things here.

First off, tame is not a word around most herpers. There is no such thing as tame with reptiles, or really any animal. There are just different degrees of tolerance. Some are more tolerant then others, just like people.....LOL

As far as the mean look, that is mainly only in vipers. Some of the most venomous snakes on earth are also the ones that look harmless. Some look like normal ratsnakes, like a corn without fancy colors or patterns.

Yes in the venomous community there are some snakes that are concidered "beginner". They include Copperheads, due to the lower toxicity and available antivenin, among the most tolerant of dealings is the Gaboon Viper.....believe it or not they are very unlikely to strike at a person with normal dealings, however it would only take once to make things ugly in a hurry, and the Timber Rattlesnake.....timbers have good attitudes as far as rattlers go.

There again, NO venomous snake is "handleable".....period, just no way to treat the snake and a very large lack of responsibility.

I in NO WAY shape or form condone HOT keeping.