I'm female. I kept lots of fish as a tween/teen, a colony of hermit crabs, and a red eared slider I raised from a tiny baby. I bought a $5 turtle behind my parents back when I was 12 then forfeited lunch money to buy ever growing aquariums until I moved out and gave him to the local tropical store because I couldn't keep a big enough tank in my first apartment.

I haven't had anything but dwarf puffers in four years but now have the research and resources for snakes, which were never allowed as a kid because my mom was so scared she couldn't even look at them on tv. She managed to become "allergic" to every pet attempt except for her very neglected parrots.

I have a ~1000sqf apartment that already had everything basically plotted out, but I'm good with minimalist interior design and aligned a series of black low dressers, a 36" exo terra, and a 4 slot rack into a sleek 14 foot long bedroom dresser/counter.

My husband luckily wasn't afraid of them, but was hesitant at first. Now he claims the biggest one is his.