Hello, Morelia forum!

After a recent post of mine debating a BCI/BP, I received a lot of recommendations to look into the Australian pythons, and then I did so. I started to fall hard for carpet pythons, and eventually, came to the conclusion that I think they would be the best fit for me at the moment.

In particular, I am looking at Darwin Carpet Pythons. Inland Reptiles AKA Nick Mutton has a few gorgeous Darwins up right now, and I am strongly considering messaging him to inquire. My only hesitation is that... well... I dont really know how to start that conversation? Do I type it formally, like an email to a professor? But "just chatting" doesnt feel right either... I'd love to ask him not just health/care questions, but also about how he keeps his juvenile Darwins, the personalities of the ones he currently has, if he recommends a male vs a female/if it matters, stuff like that. I guess I'm just not really sure how to start that conversation?

Secondarily, I'm facing a bit of indecisiveness about my enclosure. Where I live, humidity is regularly in the 50-60s even now in the winter, and I use a humidifier in the room I would keep an enclosure would be in as it is. Even with a CHE, I think a good humid substrate + the natural humidity + my household humidifier should mean not too many troubles with humidity. Ergo, I am not very worried about humidity since it seems my natural environment will work just fine, but I am very concerned about heat, particularly ambient heat.

My apartment is just cold, unfortunately. We set the tstat to 73, and it still feels like 68 in here. Be it that the insulation sucks or the heater does, it makes me concerned about having ambient temps up to snuff. It seems to me a tote would be the best option while the DCP is young, but even then, I am unsure about the size of the tote that will be needed (I have 16qt, 32qt, and 66qt all mentioned as young CP enclosures on this forum). I would prefer to have an enclosure I can use for a while, but I have heard conflicting things about the growth rates of CPs in general.

My rough plan was to get a 36x18 tote, the kind that slides under a bed, and then get some heat tape to form my hot spot. However, since I'm so concerned with ambients, I dont know if a tote set up would be the best for me. Especially because I have a cat, and I worry that if I hang up a CHE above a smaller tub, he could jump up using the extra room on the dresser and burn himself. Or, if I keep the tote in a different place if it is smaller, the same problem persists. Plus, I'm not sure at this point that a 36x18 is a good fit for a younger(er) DCP? Maybe if I get any specifics about the current age/length of a potential DCP I could evaluate more, but even then, growth rate is subjective to feeding and genetics, so maybe a 36x18 will work in theory, but is too big/small in practice? I will restate here, for this thread, that I am planning on housing my snake on a dresser that would maximum fit a 36x18 and absolutely no larger. This would last for about a year and some change from now, as once I graduate (roughly this time next year) we will be looking to move to a more permanent rental situation closer to my home. So ideally, the enclosure would work for about a juvenile up to a yearling, maybe 2 years old depending on current age. With the move, I would be upgrading them to (likely) a 4x2x2, but minimum a 3x2x2.

Anyways, back to totes. Would getting a 12"x12" heat tape for the hot side, and another for the cool side work to maintain ambients if I wrap the sides and bottom of the enclosure (minus where the heat tape will be, and one side for viewing) in a type of insulation foam roll? Or would that still not be a viable option to keep temps up?

And, if I am going to have to insulate it regardless, would it be easier for me to just get a glass terrarium and insulate it? Theres no way my cat could jump on top of my dresser if all the space is taken up by a 36x18, it would make it too tall. I wouldnt be worried about putting a CHE on top of it at that point anymore.

Or maybe I could make some sort of insulation foam board box I could place a smaller tote into, but that would take up all the space so he couldnt jump up, and then i could hang a CHE without worrying? I dont know, I'm just kinda throwing out ideas right now. Without knowing what size of tote/tank I need, it's hard to plan around my stinky little cat (he is neither stinky nor little). I adore him, but he can be quite troublesome at times. He's a bit too inquisitive and stubborn for his own good.

I think temps would be much less of a problem in the summer, when it becomes more of a thing to make sure it doesnt get too hot.

I think that's about it for now- I'd like to nail down a good size for tank first, then once I decide what I'm going with, I can get it set up and see what works in practice vs in theory. I appreciate any advice or ideas about what might work out best! Ultimately, I dont mind doing some DIY if that's what I need to do to make sure both my animals will be safe and happy.