When I was 8 or 9 I got a ball python from my mom's boss. I learned a lot about husbandry with that snake much at her expense. She got burned from a hot rock. She also ended up with severe rat bites on her back when I left a rat in her cage over night when she was in blue. That required several trips to the vet. And finding a vet to treat a snake was no easy task 25 years ago. Even through all of that I had her for 14 years. I have no idea how old she was when I got her but she was an adult. She died about 3 days after laying a clutch of eggs about 10 years ago. I still have one of her daughters from that clutch. Before anyone gets all pissed off just remember I was 8 years old and we had no internet.