My first reptile was a lizard my mom caught and put into a shoebox to show me when I got home from daycare. I wasn't any more than three, but i already loved dinosaurs, and that rather cemented my love for anything scaly.

My first snake was in middle school, when one of the boys brought his pet ball into our science class for a week. He got it out, and no one else wanted to hold it but me, so he put it around my shoulders, and it instantly snuggled up for security and warmth. I was smitten. I told him straight out that if I could get away with it, he wouldn't be getting the snake back. He laughed, and so did I, but I was only half joking. I really would have taken the baby home with me.