LOL Erin-Jane I used to be worse than you - I would shudder if I saw the picture of a snake! I grew up with a mum who was terrified of everything - snakes, spider, grasshoppers, the lot.
I was determined my daughter wouldn't grow up to be scared because of my phobias so I have always tried to approach wildlife with a relaxed attitude - encouraging her to look but not touch with spiders, handle harmless insects etc. In this vein, I took her to the Australian Reptile Park for a day trip and they had a really great hands-on reptile show. The girlfirend I went with and I were having a great time handling the snakes while our kids ran around on the grass! I went home completely hooked and put down a deposit on our first python three days later.
We now have a Stimson's hatchling at home who is the most placid, docile gorgeous little creature ever. Our 3yo daughter handles her with no problems and even our biggest, blokeiest mate who is terrified of snakes handled her the other night for the first time, and he didn't want to put her down!
We are planning a Bredli next, and as much as you are worried about him getting a "huge and terrifying" snake, they are actually considered to be among the most placid and gentle snakes as adults. Although they may be a bit nippy as youngsters, a bite from a hatchy shouldn't really hurt and I imagine it would be similar to the teething nips you get from a puppy (not been bitten yet so can't compare it to anything!) They tend to settle down as adults, especially if handled regularly.
I would take Kane up on his offer, because once you have a chance to handle a few snakes, your attitude towards them changes completely and you can really appreciate their beauty and grace. If you approach it with an open mind, and try to overcome your expectations and preconceived notions of how a snake behaves, you may find that you are really impressed and quickly become hooked. Who knows, you might be on here in a couple of months asking for advice about your own python!?
Good luck!
EDIT: also, Tatelina is right. it would be very hard to forget to close a click clack correctly. You could keep a hatchy in there for a year, by which time you would have overcome any fear of snakes - or moved out!
