well... thank you so very much. I do feel welcome...
The first answer, Nicole, is that my avatar pic is my youngest daughter... holding Clover (wait.. was it the girl or the snake you were curious about??

) She is so great with the snakes. We took them to 3rd grade the other day for my other daughter's class and my 4 year old ended up leading the Q&A time... and had the answers nailed! I wasn't surprised because she is so in tuned with the snakes... but it did surprise me a little because we take care of them togehter, bu tI haven't sat down and "taught" her the specifics.
Yes, I do have pictures of my critters and I'll get them sized down so I can post them... I need to just roll up my sleeves and make a web site... for so many reasons.
Thanks again for the welcome.