I have 50 custody of my son as well and it was almost the same story...my son and I have been through pets...we have cats he doesn't care for and mice and gerbials just didn't intrest him and I've always been a snake lover (under wraps) so we went to the petstore and he fell in love with a boa...I'm not sure id even know how to begin to take care of one, but he is really very in love with ginger and its sweet so it all worked out. I'm always a little stand offish when it comes to baby animals...sometimes there are problems that don't come out untill time has passed...and that's true with mammals and reptiles alike so I opted for a yearling myself. 20 years is a long time with a pet so what's 1 or 2 gonna hurt? I guess the stories I've heard of babys refusing to eat to the point of starvation that just scared me as a beginner lol.