I LOVE cats, and I like dogs -but I ADORE Reptiles. Reptiles have a lot of negative press, but much like a cat or dog-the care and treatment they are given is going to greatly effect how they behave, their friendliness and how well trained they are.
I have a giant monitor, but I also owned a green iguana, a blue tongued skink, and yes some snakes as well. In fact I still also have my snakes (Iguana and skink passed due to old age) but the one to really note is the giant monitor named Kane. He is extremely sweet, has his own room (an actual human bedroom not a terrarium that has been worked over to provide proper heat and comfort year round). Most would think-oh its a carnivore, its got teeth and claws, look at it its huge. to which I generally can look over their proverbial shoulder and spot-a cat. Guess what a cat is described as? carnivore, has teeth and claws (and in the case of a Maine Coon) is large.
Kane firmly believes he is a lap dog and never mind he is covered in scales, 6 feet 5 inches and weighs 75 lbs. of pure lean muscle. If you open a bag-he comes running to see if there is a treat for him. If you call his name, he comes. when I get home, he runs to the door to greet me (and to also see about a treat because he is highly food motivated haha).
He is toilet trained. Yes you read that right- toilet trained, NOT litter box. He has some text to speech buttons to press if he wants something or just wants me to better understand. He has buttons such as “food” “toy” “cuddle” “bath” ‘cold” and emotion ones like “happy” “mad” and “what?” (‘what” is his curiosity/inquiry button or if he doesn’t understand something).
Kane will also leave his super comfy room (and by comfy I mean he even has his own small tv with a Roku box that shows nature live streams of birds and squirrels and the like AND an orthopedic bed for relaxing) if he hears thunder at night and runs to my room and will only calm down once under the blankets cuddled against me. (Picture below is NOT Kane, but just so you have a size reference to mentally picture of one running to me to save him from the scary thunder)
I hope that this will help both answer the original question but also encourage more people to be open minded to reptiles of all kinds, because much like a cat or dog-they can be docile and your best friend and love meeting other people…or an aggressive danger to anyone who comes within range. As you can see from the above image-they are not all bad, scary or anything to worry about. IF they have a good owner.