One angle you might use Marty is what a snake will teach you about life's lessons. Most any parent is always interested in that sort of thing. From my own experiences with our snakes and our 3 younger children I can say I've seen the following good life lessons taught by the snakes...

- patience because you cannot handle the snake at certain times (post feed, during shedding, etc.)

- empathy because you must use this skill to understand a creature that has a very limited way to communicate it's needs to you

- scheduling and routine/habit building because ball pythons do best when they are kept on certain schedules and routines, they don't adjust to humans so we adjust to them

- calmness of spirit and self because a snake doesn't do well or react well to a jumpy, nervous handler

- the drive to understand and "know" because these are fascinating creatures and most every snake loving human ends up addicted to wanting to know more and understand more about their snakes, a seeking mind is a wonderful thing any parents wants fostered in their children

- limit setting by self not parent because in the end it will be you that sets the limits of handling when your friends come over or you want to handle the snake and it's not appropriate to do so

There's a ton more but these are some of the things I've noticed in my own kids. Hope it helps.