I really love you for giving me an Allopatric Speciation example. <3 Now you're speaking my language.On top of what others have said - here is my personal thoughts on the matter.
It sounds like there may be more going on in the relationship side of things that is completely moot in regards to the animals. I think she's using these animals as the vehicle to transfer emotions into conversations. Perhaps she's having larger amounts of stress than normal with work, or maybe something happened that she does not want to talk about, but feels the need to vent out control and anger and is taking out on something that is a current change. The change could've hit on something as small as you getting a new haircut even if this was the case.
None the less, sharing passions is not always a must. Have diversity in a relationship can add to its value by expanding on one anothers joys in life. It's aweome when these joys click, but sometimes they don't and that should be a sign of an issue that should be addressed. However, all that being said, it's hard to focus on eachother when distance creates a barrier that enables change to occur. Just earlier today I had a conversation about this that may make no sense to some, and plenty to others. . .
Distance between two people who were once completely compatible, can cause barriers to form causing them to no longer be compatible. Think of it as mountains, islands, and stretches of urbanization to the effects on species and evolution. These barriers force a species to be apart from eachother and then both species are exposed to varying elements that drive a change. She could be experiencing different pressures at her current location that is causing a shift in her mindset and thus "evolving" her way of thinking. This evolution of distance can become a very hard barrier to break (thus we have the formation of new sub-species, and even new species in certain cases given enough tough). But my advice is get to her. Break the barrier of distance down as soon as possible, and examine how things are there. Ignore what's going on with your new snake desires, and currrent animal issues, and really find out what is causing the change on her side. This is probably one of your best ways to ensure you two do not separate into completely isolated individuals which leads to a loss of compatability with one another.
Hope this gives some different insight to the matter. And goodluck.