Over the years I have had a few friends that had snakes as pets, and as such I was never a "ewww snakes NO!" person.

Cass however was a "ewww snakes NO!" person. I'd talked about getting one a few times, but she never really liked that idea. But she did like looking at them in pet stores (safely behind glass).

Well, we were in our new PetCo getting some feeding bowls for the cats and we saw the balls. Cass wanted us to get an employee over so I could hold one and she could have a closer look (last time Cass held a snake she hyperventilated apparently).

Well anyway we got out a ball, and I held it for a while, then Cass asked to hold it. I can't remember how long she stood there holding the ball, and talking baby talk to it but it must have been 30 minutes or so.

The next day we went back, and I identified the exact snake we had been holding by the markings on the head. We bought Cleo and never looked back