I'm a gal over here. I wanted a pet for myself that my children could handle. It also had to be apartment friendly and allergen free. I researched reptiles and was put off by the care of a BD (3 kids and a job I have time but not that much time!) so I researched snakes and here we are! Added our first in Sept of last year and just got our second one last week! My husband has nothing to do with them. He will spray their cages, though, if I go on vacation. I do all their care and I love it. I will have to say that I think of snakes as being more of a male thing, although the breeder I got my first snake from was a gal, also so maybe that's saying something!