I think a bull snake would make an excellent "first snake." I still keep some of my smaller ones (I have one big Texas bull and three "local gophers" I'm working on breeding) in glass aquariums, but I recommend a reptile cage (very similar to an aquarium); even on my limited budget, I've been able to afford them. Escapes are problematic, and I have one snake who managed to accomplish one. Good news is I haven't been bothered by mice for the last two years, and they were a problem before.

Good luck. I "mix it up" feeding both frozen and live food (both mice and rats for the bigger snakes), and I just had one of the "wild gophers" (scheduled for release after I brought her home last year, thinking she might be gravid, but it was just a big meal. I don't care for her pattern) eat a thawed frozen mouse with no problem.

The only difference between keeping corns and bulls, pines, and gophers, IMO, is that the latter have "attitudes" that take some getting used to. They're mostly bluff, but I do recommend feeding them outside their cage (I use plastic shoe boxes or a spare, bare-bottomed aquarium). That prevents them from ingesting the substrate.

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