Snakes don't bond or show affection. The most they do to show they "like" you or are "content" is to not view you as a threat. I have never been bitten by any of my pets, because I handle them on a regular basis and they are comfortable with me. Snakes are natural loners, so they don't really make friends with anyone. However, you can still cuddle with them and for me its easy to ignore the fact that its not that they like me, I can pretend
They are great pets. However, snakes always retain that wild animal nature and if you were to release a snake into the wild, as long as the climate was the right one for that snake to survive it could easily revert back to hunting for itself and survive as a wild snake again. Thats what has happened in Florida with the Burmese pythons. Things like hurricanes and irresponsible pet owners have released these animals in a climate that can support them, and now they are running wild and reproducing as wild animals.
And on that note about Burmese pythons, you should only get a Burmese if you have adequate experience dealing with other large constrictors. They are a HUGE handful, and can be extremely dangerous if you don't know exactly what you're doing. They get MASSIVE and if you don't handle it enough when its young, it can grow into an adult over 20 feet long and over 100 pounds with a nasty temperament. That size snake could easily kill an adult human. My friend with the burmese has had at least 10 years experience with reptiles, including large ones, before she got Sunny. Sunny is a very docile Burmese because she is very careful to make sure he is desensitized to being touched in "sensitive" snake places like his face, and he is used to being lugged around and cuddled with and whatnot. Even with all that "training" and "socialization" he is still potentially dangerous around feeding time because sometimes he will chase your feet thinking they're rats. He is only half the size he can potentially get, too, at 11 feet long. These snakes are not for the beginning reptile owner, and colubrids like corn snakes or other species that are generally under 6 feet really don't prepare you for these snakes. Perhaps large red tail boas could be a good start, because females can get up to 12 feet. I can't tell you how many Burmese pythons I see on criagslist because owners get overwhelmed when they start getting bigger. I see more Burmese pythons and other large constrictors than rabbits. Its the same in Florida, owners get too overwhelmed with their large size and just let them go instead of being responsible and finding them a new home.
