so I got my first Ball python yesterday. a friend of mine runs an apartment complex one of his tenants just bailed.he goes in to clean the place out and theres this snake that he has no idea what it is or what the hell to do with it. So he gave me a call and i picked up the snake from him.

he (i think its a male) had pine bedding that was old and filthy, no heat except for a lamp w/75w house bulb and a tiny bowl that had very little water left.

I picked up a big rubbermaid tote on my way home to use as a feeder tank and i put him in this with a hide log while i cleaned out his cage with a bleach/water mixture.

I bought a heat lamp, UTH, the hide log, a humidity meter, new water bowl, and i baked a piece of aspen for a climbing log. the tank just has a stick on thermometer but i will be getting a couple of digital thermometers when i get paid. oh and i made another hide out of an opaque bowl for the other side of the cage.

also i think he is about to shed, it has cloudy eyes and a bluish hue to its side scales.

so did i forget anything? like i said this is my first ball python, first python actually. i am in love with snakes i have been catching local utah snakes all my life and my part time job is nuisance animal trapper so i do a ton of live rattlesnake removals every year.

i read everything i could find about care for BP's online, are there any must read books/websites?

how soon after they eat do they defecate? he crapped in the tote while i was cleaning his cage.

any advice would be very helpful, i have wanted a python or boa for a long time and now it seems it was meant to be.

I just wish i could find the guy that left this beautiful snake to die