Except for garters, I'm actually still scared of wild ones - they just have a powerful aura to them. It is a different fear than say, for example, facing a human attacker, or finding yourself at the edge of a sink hole. I have handled other people's pet snakes, and been fine with them.

I don't think BF is scared so much as he still perceives a snake as a very low class thing to own. He came from humble beginnings, worked hard in his successful career, and has retired well off. It is an association I have tried to change, explaining to him that snakes are pets that scientific and naturalist oriented types of people are attracted to. (Since I came of age obsessed with reading Stephen J. Gould, books on paleo anthropology - just about memorized Lucy and the Origins of Mankind - Jane Goodall, Diane Fossey, Joy Adams, Konrad Lorentz, etc.. I count myself in that group.)

I think it is just going to mostly take more patience.
Thanks everyone for the replies and good suggestions.
Appreciated!