I'm convinced the universe is mocking me, or I'm just torturing myself

[Bogertophis]

I thought I'd add to this thread as I saw the video below, posted by Brian at Riverside Reptiles, one of my favorite places to go.

I do have a friend who lucked out and has a "nice" VBB, but apparently, that's not exactly the norm. This doesn't look like fun to me, but to each his/her own. They are stunning and great feeders. Also interesting as they like to climb a lot and at the exhibit at Riverside, they are usually up in the branches, like the green mambas he has. Of course, the green mambas scare me more .

https://youtube.com/shorts/obHTmWeUOco?feature=share

That's a really over-the-top voice-over in that clip- too funny! Beauty snakes do give a nice hissy open-mouth + flat neck display when upset, & truth be told, very few snakes appreciate their tails touched. Many get used to it & accept it, but not all. Haha! Personally, I love snakes with some fire too, but especially ones that after challenging me, eventually do learn to settle down & accept handling- and many rat snakes (& others too) ARE the "best of both worlds" for those with empathy & patience to bring that out in them. When this happens, you can feel the mutual respect when handling them- even with some remaining wariness each time you initially pick them up. That to me is fun. After all, we're asking them, a wild animal, to "trust us"- so it's only fair that we have to meet them halfway, & trust them not to bite also.