I used to work at a Petstore, and the rule was that the buyer must be 18 or older, and that this person had to sign an acknowledgement for the health guarantee, etc. However, there was one instance I remember very distinctly, in which one of the personnel made the mistake of selling to a 16 year old boy who "seemed old enough". His mother came in furious that the store had sold him (her under-aged child) a bunny rabbit. I could imagine a similar response to a snake...or a worse one if the parents aren't comfortable with snakes.

I was forbidden to have a snake until I no longer lived under my parents roof. So I moved out at 18, and at 19 I got my first snake. While I could have cared for the snake at a much younger age, (I got my Schneider's skink at age 9 and she's still kickin!), my mother didn't approve, and therefore I didn't have it. *shrug* I think parental permission is a must for anyone under age 18, or they should not be allowed to purchase the animal. If allowed to purchase and the parents aren't okay with the animal, the animal will either be mistreated, released, rehomed, or killed. None of which are ideal situations for our snabies.