When I was a kid, I was brought up "the only good snake is a dead snake". If you ever saw one, you should kill it. That was the first 8 years of my life, and my grandfather was the sole male figure in my life, and his defense, we lived in an area of copperheads and rattlesnakes. Many other non-hot snakes, as well, but that was the feeling.

As i got a little older, and moved an hour or so away, the rattlensnakes and copperheads become less common. I'd occaisonally run across a big black/rat snake on a country road or some gartner snakes when mowing around old buildings. At this point, my new stepfather new his snakes pretty well and had come from a farming background. I only saw him kill one snake out of many, and that was just because it was a copperhead that kept coming my grandmothers house. He relocated it a couple of times, but that snake (we assumed it was the same one) kept coming around.

Maybe it was this upbringing, I'm not sure, but I was terrified of seeing snakes and there was no way I wanted anything to do with touching them. Fast-Forward 25+ years and I think reptiles are very interesting creatures. I become interested in bearded dragons and debate getting one. I came across a post that said BP's were a better "beginner reptile pet" than a beardie. It went downhill from there. I went to a couple of expos where vendors were happy to hand me a snake (before I even asked or could think about it).... Now I'm a BP owner and will be building my own rack very soon.

Now, how did I get from "kill at first sight" to, "oh cool, can I hold that one too?"....? I think a lot of it has to do with education and understanding of the animals. As G.I. Joe would say... knowing is half the battle.