Hello! New to the forum, and I guess I'm not allowed to post anywhere else yet, so here I go.

As a bit of background about me, I had a ribbon snake when I was a kid (going back to the 90s, here), and have also had a couple frogs and a turtle at various times. I also worked at PetCo for a stretch and worked with the snakes a lot; we had this big, gorgeous tangerine milk snake at the store who I was the only person it liked (he even bit our vet when we took him for a checkup after a week-long escape. But the guy was a jerk so all of us sided with the snake). The pythons and boas were cool, but I've always liked the look of garters with their bold colors, big eyes, and the way they look like they're always smiling. And, well, we had a couple that lived under our shed/woodpile at the house where I grew up, (and musked it up every time someone went inside) and I had a mark on my hand for YEARS after the big one (had to be 4ft long, she was a HUGE) got hold of me in a capture attempt (funny story: my grandmother had a fit over that, telling me I had no idea what kind of snake it was and it could have been venomous. Imagine my surprise when I learned years later she was half right).

Anyway, I live in a small apartment, and because my current space and schedule make a cat, dog, or ferrets impractical, have recently been considering getting a snake again. As it's been quite a while since I had my ribbon, so I'll be looking for some advice in the future.