Carpet pythons are AWESOME! By far they are my favorite species, and their "only" downside (in my eyes) is that they are a shade too small for my preference.
Pros:
1) very handleable and calm as adults
2) great feeders (make sure to start them on rats, don't want an 8lb snake preferring 20g mice)
3) great size, very manageable size but can still be an impressive snake
4) beautiful
5) countless breeding projects one might want to undertake
6) hardy and easy to care for
7) intelligent and aware
Cons:
1) New stock straight from Australia is virtually impossible to acquire