Mine started when I held a boa when on a family vacation in Montana.
She was so sweet, and calm--I didn't know snakes were like that!
So when we got home, my fiance and I immediately purchased a corn snake after finding a local breeder online.
We LOVED her.
But my fiance had heard about ball pythons and wanted one, and that month Petco was having them on sale from $80 to $15...of course we had to get one.
That's where Nergal came in!
We were hooked on how calm he was compared to Cheesecake, the corn snake--he'd sit still and let you touch him, he was BIG, and cute, and friendly. It was everything about him.
(Still love corn snakes, though!)