Advice for an old newbie?

[backafter30]

As I've mentioned elsewhere, I am an experienced reptile keeper, but 30 years out of practice, and the hobby is hardly recognizable. When I was younger, I had wild-caught stuff in standard colors and had to breed my own mice. I am blown away by what I am reading online lately. I honestly had no idea...

I have yet to acquire a new reptile, and have over a month till my first local reptile event (Repticon Denver), and I am already trying to plan out rack systems. (I tend to dive in head-first rather than test the waters.) I don't even know what I want to keep yet, so I thought I'd ask why you keep what you keep. I know I don't want the bigger boas or pythons, but I wouldn't mind good-sized rat snakes. I love the colors of the kings, milks, and corns, but have read (and seen on youtube) how they can be jumpy, nippy, and musky. (That was just expected of my wild-caught specimens.) I like how calm most Ball pythons seem, but I honestly cannot tell most of those morphs apart and do not understand some of the prices being asked. So:

Why do you keep what you keep? What makes you interested in your particular breed, and why do you prefer it over other types? (big boas/pythons, small boas/pythons, corns, kings/milks, etc) Maybe your perspectives can help guide me on the right path with less trial and error. Thanks!