Opinions on Black/Blue Racers

[Bandit]

I've handled many racers over the years - both in the wild and captive individuals. I've had encounters that range from corn snake-type handling to absolute hell as they squirmed and bit me repeatedly. In the wild, you are more likely to get defensive individuals that will be very fidgety and may bite (but there are certainly calmer ones out there). In captivity, they will often calm down over time. They will always be very active snakes, but the musking and biting will lessen as time goes on. They usually take a bit of work to get to eat rodents, but once they do they seem to have no issues.

On a side note - I cannot agree that learning to handle a racer would prepare you to handle any snake. Maybe any local, nonvenomous snake, but when you move onto exotics or hots, then it definitely would not apply.