I would never bring my dog into a mall, and neither would I bring my snake.
I'd bring my dog to a park, and would potentially bring one of my snakes for a nice outdoors photoshoot, but I'd keep my distance from people.
Feel free to bring your ball python into a pet store. The PetSmart near my apartment had santa clause pictures for pets (lol).. saw someone bring in a decent sized juvie retic, and santa was more than happy to oblige!