It's more annoying than painful, though I have a pretty high tolerance of pain. I have two, one on my back and one on my foot. The one on my back was no big deal, when he was right on my spine that was irritating, but not painful. The foot was painful though. Not unbearable, but a lot more than irritating.

I will say this, make sure it's something you really want. I got the one on my back when I turned 18, more of a "I'm 18 and I have to get a tatoo". It's some random design that means nothing to me; I only got it because I could. Do I regret it, no? Do I get excited looking at it, no. The one on my foot I absolutely love and always get pumped whenever I see it.

So make sure it's something you really want before you do it. Oh, and I agree, that snake would be too plain as is with just the white, but that pose of another morph would be awesome.