Unfortunately a lot of people (especially woman but not so much anymore) are afraid of snakes by instinct or ingrained programming (religious views on snakes (ie Adam and Eve and the snake in the garden of Eden), what their parents told them or class mates or just plain misunderstanding and not knowing anything about snakes that is fact.
These people may feel snakes are slimy, all venomous, capable of phenominal feats of strength and voracious hunger. Often they give them sinister levels of intelligence, looking at your with their slit eyes calculating just how much effort it would need to eat you LOL.
Most of these people also have not seen a snake face to face to see all snakes are different etc. With the media almost always giving negative info about snakes (ie movies such as Snakes on a Plane, Anaconda etc, news items about yet another GIANT ball python loose in an apartment (or even an actual large python) etc all give a negative and often frighening view of snakes.
Proper education and exposure is one way to lesson those fears, hence why many spouses eventually realize a ball python isn't a ravenous monster hell bent on consuming human life, isn't a health threat to humans at all with proper hygiene and even children are safe from ball pythons other than, at worse a bite. Though children should not be allowed to handle snakes alone.
The only thing we have to watch for, as responsible snake keepers, is not presenting our animals in a threatening manner (ie chasing people around the house or yard with the intention of frightening people, it sounds like fun but can have a really negative impact on the person being frightened, and others who witness it). ALso some people do have a genuine phobia of snakes. These are not people who will quickly learn to accept snakes and even grow to love them. Their fear is unreasonable and not easily alleviated with education etc. The person for the most part, knows he is being silly, that he shouldn't be afraid, but can't help the terror that washes over him when he sees the object of his phobia.
It takes alot of work to overcome a phobia, especially a very strong one.
I am very glad your Wife is starting to warm up to your snakes. Bring her to a reptile show, let her see the tiny harmless looking cornsnake and ball python babies (or the babies your breed yourself), she can talk to other breeders (she will see you didn't make it all up LOL) and something may catch her eye and bring her fulling into the herp keeping world (even if she picks a cute little gecko or bearded dragon, instead of a ball python or other snake).
So to all that helped, thank you.
