hey,
Can't go wrong with a Red Rat Snake,currently I have 12 Rat Snakes,including three Red Rats,one is a Okeetee,excellent,calm snakes,and each time it sheds,the color are more brilliant!! at a 1 1/2 years,it should be around 26"-28" ?and fed a couple mice a a week,they grow fast,averaging a good 1" a month,you'll defiantly need a larger set-up then 10 gal. ,average length is 4',and 5'+ is not uncommon,their setup should have some height to it,their excellent climbers,so tree branches,going from bottom to top should be used .Red Rats by far are the easiest to care for,my personal experiences,have found the Baird's Rat snakes to be quite difficult to care for.Yellow's and Gray's are pretty decent,Black's do well also,if acquired young,but cautious,even after years of captivity they still can be a bit nippy,for me owning a Trans Pecos,has been the big dream,it took me quite afew years to find a Baird's,and I've heard that a dealer has been showing up from time to time with Trans Pecos,but he hasn't been their when I go to the shows.I've got a few of my Rats snakes in my photo Gallery,my Albums-0ther reptiles

Joe