I'm not sure if I can offer any advice to help, but I do wish you luck.

Maybe remind them that your snake isn't just an object but a living being? While I understand and accept that none of my snakes "love" me, I sure adore them. I'm VERY attached...they all have names and I'm very fond of them and proud of them, like any pet owner is of his or her pets should be. Point out that demanding you get rid of your little python is like telling someone to just get rid of their cherished dog.

And as others have stated, remind them that the snake can be out of sight, out of mind. I had a BP back when I was in college...at one point I had to move back in with my parents for a time and my mother was phobic of snakes. My dad likes them and he and I insisted over and over to her that she'd probably never even see it unless she went into my room. Over time she calmed down and at one point, she actually asked me to bring it out for her to see. That day, she petted a snake for the first time in her life...and had to admit the little critter wasn't half bad. I think she almost liked him by the time I was forced to sell him (I was moving to an area where they are not allowed).

Now...my aunt on the other hand. We all agreed that nobody could ever tell her that I had a python. She'd freak out. She found out THREE YEARS after he was sold that I'd owned him and she screamed at me about how "horrible" I am and how cruel I am for owning a vicious deadly monster. She wouldn't speak to me for a week.

I now own a small collection and have intentions on aquiring more, and I intend to breed as well. Needless to say I have not told her I own snakes, and I doubt I ever will. She would take it as a personal insult, and think I am only doing it to "hurt" her or something. She literally HATES snakes, and says whenever they get mentioned that she wishes that we could just exterminate them all.

Though bear in mind this is the woman who's afraid of EARTHWORMS because they are "snakey" in appearance, doesn't like SHORTHAIRED CATS because their tails look like snakes, and has serious issues eating spaghetti because, OMG, NOODLES LIKE SNAKES. She's the kind of person who craves the bans on our animals. She is, for lack of a better term, INSANE.

I do hope your roommates come 'round like my mother did, and that they aren't cut from the same cloth as my aunt.