So, I was really close to getting a ball python a few weeks ago, but I found out that one of my cousins was really strapped for cash because of the radiation treatments she now has to pay for. Collectively as a family we pooled our extra cash to help her out, so I was pretty sure that I would have to put off owning a snake for several months. Well last night my cousin on the other side of the family was extremely insistent on spending the night and this morning around 9 am the FedEx guy arrived! It was a huge surprise, and apparently since this particular cousin who is kind of my best friend had been listening to me yap about getting a snake for about six months decided that he would use his extra money to buy me one!

I have to say the whole time I was shopping around for snakes I was being really vain and I was worried that I would end up with one that I thought was ugly. But when I got the box I was just so freaking excited to open it that I didn't care what it was. It's funny because these past several days he's been telling me that he was buying a snake for himself (I was extremely jealous) and he kept asking me about blond pastels and what they were and how they were different, and so I was doing research for him, but he was really just seeing if I would like one or not. Anyways, I opened it up and it's the cutest little snake ever!

I was immediately surprised at how tiny he is! I've been staring at pictures of ball pythons for what seems like forever now and I guess I just pictures them as bigger, and the tub I had set up was extremely big. SO we went out and bought a smaller one, and of course we had NO newspaper today so we bought bedding, and I got a proper Acu-Rite thermometer today because I had another one that I was not too pleased with.

So below is what I have set up as of now, and I know it's really basic and I'm not too happy with it, I need to work out the cable bit and come up with a better hide I think, but he does fit snuggly in there.

The problem is of course that I have NO thermostat. It was something that I was putting off until the end because I've been strapped for cash, and of course the problem with surprises is that I was not completely ready. We did buy a dimmer though, and my dad was too busy watching Bonanza tonight to even acknowledge my existence, but he did promise me that tomorrow morning he would help me rig up the dimmer so that I didn't have to put it in the wall but like in a box or something I don't know I don't understand half of the things my dad says to me.

So what should I do tonight? Should I unplug the UTH or leave it plugged in with a heavy bit of Aspen padding? The low tonight is 61 and the high tomorrow is 88. He was really cold when I got him so that worried me but he seems to have warmed up a bit. Also, he's really jumpy and besides the pictures I've tried to leave him alone (hardest thing ever) but he'll like coil up and I think he's going to strike but he'll just be jittery. Also, he's not really going into the hide, he just lays at other ends of the tub, and I don't think this is normal right?

Anyway, I'm sorry I wrote a novel. :-/ Also, these pictures are really bad because I took them with my really old (but loved) iPhone and of course they have the worst cameras. My mom is gallivanting around Europe at the moment and of course she took my camera. <3