Heidi,
My experience is that most adult house snakes are ravenous feeders. Some babies feed really well right out of the egg, while others, particularly the smaller ones, take a while to figure out that pinkies are edible. Once they start eating, the are pigs like the adults.
As to temperament, I have kept wild caught adults, captive born babies and captive born adults. Babies are nervous, rather skittish snakes although the don't usually bite. Their bite is of no consequence anyway. With handling, they become very trustworthy snakes. Captive born and raised adults are usually very tame if they have been handled while being raised.
I would reinforce the caveat I have on my website that these are snakes that respond very negatively to being held behind the head for some reason. Even a tame house snake will open its mouth and try to bite if restrained this way. Hold them normally, and they are fine.
Wild caught adults are a little tricker, although they calm down quickly. A bite from a large female draws a surprising amount of blood for a snake that size! Fortunately, almost all house snakes here in the US are currently captive bred.
As for what kind of pets they make, they are great pets (by snake standards). They are calm, trustworthy snakes that are easy to feed and breed. They are nocturnal and so aren't likely to be found crawling around in the day and they require a secure dark hide box. Otherwise, they are among the easiest colubrids to keep, IMHO.
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Chris Harrison
