Sid - I was blessed as a child, my mom was addicted to Garter snakes already, and I think she was the first one to introduce me to them.

But that was back when she used to take us out in her Buick convertible with the top down, jamming out to the in dash 8 track

Luckily, she got to see and hold Xena a few times before she suddenly had a heart attack and passed away.

We moved out of the rental, and as a new homeowner now have the freedom to add as many snakes, lizards, mammals and whatever we want.

Mom had this "extra" living room, one that no one ever "lived" in, well after my sister decided she needed all the display items from out of there, Dorothy and I decided to make it into a reptile room.

Some day when it is close to finished, I'll back up and take a big picture.