The yellow rat snake that may enjoy some human contact.

[Cory]

Thank you Aaron_S. I know this is a slight deviation from the original goal of this thread but what sort of environmental conditions would you advise?

In the case of Lily we noticed that he seemed to be disturbed by movement over top of him. Since his vivarium was at floor level and in a busy part of the home we decided to cover the top so that he wouldn't be able to see motion over top of him on a regular basis. It worked and he calmed down.

After further research we realized that he may be somewhat arboreal and that he might benefit from a cage that was taller than it was long, with many things to climb and perch upon. My girlfriend did a great job in setting up his new home that has (from highest to lowest) four rings to climb in at the top, two baskets for perches mid way down, and plastic PVC piping underneath his substrate for a burrow.

He has taken very well to his new home and has been living in it for a few years now. He is generally calmer and no longer seems interested in trying out another environment. Previously, in his old vivarium, he had gotten out twice. Both times he sought to go higher up and was found in our closet having nestled himself among folded clothes. He still likes to burrow around in the substrate when in spring and when it is freshly changed. Other than that his escape tendencies have decreased and I have not noticed any attempts to find a weak spot to escape through.