If you're interested in snakes with beautiful colors that get to a respectable size and have great temperaments, then you should certainly consider Honduran Milk Snakes. When they're very small, they' can be a little wild (squirmy and thrashing around when you handle them) but they calm down fairly quickly. Very easy to care for and they make wonderful reptile pets. Here's a website where you can see just some of the color morphs available.
» The Lampro Blog: Honduran Milksnakes - Herp Nation Media