Originally Posted by Peter wood

I think when im in the routine of handling diablo,i think im gonna get a baby Royal are these good for a bigger step from a rat snake?

Originally Posted by Dextersdad

Royals are generally easy to keep and handle. Most (but not all) can be rather timid. Just be prepared for them to go off of their food and not to panic about it if they keep a good weight up. Mine went 8 months without feeding once and hardly dropped any weight.

Originally Posted by ratboy

IMHO they are a step before a nice rat snake... not after one

Originally Posted by Peter wood

haha oh great

Originally Posted by ratboy

It's true. If you can maintain a royal and keep it eating... it's good experience for the more temperamental rat snake species.

Originally Posted by Peter wood

ahhhh i see i just thought oh god iv got my hands full with my rat snake with my knowledge

Originally Posted by ratboy

You should not have much hassle with an NA rattie

I had a female Korean rat snake a few years back that would only eat if she struck the food and dragged it back into her hide. The food had to be rotated slowly outside the entrance to the hide and her head would appear. She would not strike until the food was moving at the 'right' speed

If she was coming up for a shed she would do a closed mouth strike on it and send it flying across the viv.

She was fun