Snakes are not the terrible nasty creatures that most people make them out to be. If a person is not willing to look deeper, than they are ignorant. People are just afraid of what they don't understand. Some people will say that a fear of snakes is instinctual. That may very well be true, however I think it has more to do with the public's opinion of snakes as something bad. From a young age, people are trained to see them as bad creatures. To understand snakes you must first disregard most everything you've been taught about them. Snakes live mostly by instinct alone. They eat, drink, find warmth, find shelter, sleep, brumate, breed...etc. If you think that snakes just go around biting everything all the time that is crazy. People would definately not be keeping snakes if they were like that. Duh! Snakes only bite for two reasons, and they are both based on instinct. The first reason is that they fear for their lives. Biting is their only truly effective defense. Most snakes in captivity learn that humans are not a threat to them and therefore they basically think of us as something to climb on. It is true that some snakes are naturally more nervous and these types of snakes are more for display, such as tree boas. Not that there can't be individuals of those species that can become tame.
The second reason that a snake will bite is if you smell like its prey item, a mouse. Obviously you are not gonna go rubbing mouse scent all over you before you handle your snake. However, some people are not careful enough when preparing the mice. You must always remember to wash your hands with soap. Its really not that hard and it isn't a hassle if it ensures that there will not be a mishap.
Its all as simple as that. Snakes are not mentally complex creatures. Once you understand why they do the things they do, you will see them very differently.
Snakes are quite mystifying creatures. They can come in so many vivid colors and sizes. It is neat to watch how the move their muscular bodies. I would even call them graceful. I was amazed the first time I actually watched a snake eat. Its quite an interesting process. Back then I thought "not very many people get to see this sort of thing". I'm so glad I'm lucky enough to be able to interact with snakes on a daily basis.
Check out my FAQ for people that don't know much about snakes. Click Here