Well I guess I wouldn't feel to excited to start touching and handling the snake, but neither would I just stare at it (Curiousity would be unstoppable). As for the budget, I don't want an animal to exotic or costing over the 75 dollar range, because with the cost of the reptile supplies, food, and vivarium it might be hard to get it all at once (I'm guessing around $150 or $200 total)
As for taking care of it, I will give up at least 2 or 3 hours of my day. I see your point with the UV-B light, so probably something without the need for UV-B.
I would feel comfortable feeding it dead prey (If herp a carnivore). Live insects and mice would probably be okay, but I would prefer the prey not alive and squirming.
My house is a little crowded so space could be an issue if my pet grows to big. I don't know the exact dimmensions of space I have available, so something small would be good. Thanks for reading this and thanks for the comment.