i think wht they are trying to do is stop you from getting an exotic pet, maybe they dont like snakes, if they dont like the gurth of the bp, get a colubrid, preferably a corn snake, there fairly small, and a good beginner snake, my mom had always said she would never get a pet snake, but after i got my bp she fell in love with him, and also, to try nd get her to think the cat wont get it, i would get a tank if you only have one snake, its easier with just one and a tank, but for the cat situation, my cats loved watching my snake when he was out at night, but then one got eaten by my visious dog, then the other one just kind have stopped watching after a few days of it being there, so just tell her tht its all safe, the cats will just look, my snake has actually looked at my cat and did the "s" neck thing, but then i stroked his back nd he just laid in a ball in my hand.