Hi Don and welcome to the forum. Honestly I've kept kingsnakes for years and now breed Thayeri's. I was going to start a large collection of Lampropeltis, but was honestly completely entrigued with the garters. I now only have the one pair of thayeri ( I still love them ) along with an old girl PI King and am working on my 4th pair of garters. With their higher activity and they fact they're day active I love to just sit and watch them. It's all a matter of personal choice though.....but I think you'll find a bit of a bias here...LOL. If you prefer a snake the is very visable and interactive, I'd give garters at least a try. But just to warm you, it's very easy to get hooked.

Roy