I got my first ball python almost exactly three years ago. I ordered her online, never saw pics beforehand... I was just looking for a good deal, it was a birthday present for myself, my only other snake was a corn snake I had gotten a few months earlier. I did a lot of reading online (caresheets, we know how great those can be right ) and thought I was ready.

Turns out I had every problem in the book. Fasting for months at a time, incorrect temps and humidity, bad sheds, got bitten up by a mouse, respiratory infection, scale rot. I learned as I went along, and this summer I've FINALLY gotten things right, after spending some time reading these forums. She's fat and healthy eating f/t rats and I just bought an acurite thermo/hygro and it seems I've got things under control. I recently aquired another ball, this one is being kept correctly from the start, in his little tub.

I work at a pet store, and we always have a bunch of ball pythons. They don't have the greatest setup, and are kept all together, but they are kept warm enough and are eating every week (I feed them myself). No mites or anything and good sheds.

Here's the issue... when people see they are at a good price (49.99) they are willing to buy them spur of the moment. "So what do I have to do?" I HATE having to sell ball pythons to people who have never read a single thing about them, especially if they've never had snakes before. I try to keep my advice simple, but I'm extra paranoid considering I know all the problems that can arise from not doing your homework. And being an employee and wanting to make a big sale, and usually within earshot of my boss, I don't want to suggest plastic tubs to keep the snakes in. Well, in my heart I do. So sometimes when trying to explain their husbandry requirements I go a little overboard, and my coworkers will tell me to calm down, that "everything I read says they're an easy beginner snake". But I care about what happens to that snake *after* it leaves the store. Another thing that really bugs me is when other coworkers say that the snakes can be kept together. Because one girl I work with keeps 5 ball pythons of different sizes/ages in one giant 75 gallon tank. I've argued with them in front of customers... even if they snakes dont eat each other, they'll still be stressed! And that's not something a first time beginner snake owner is going to want to deal with.

Do you think ball pythons are a good "beginner" snake? From my experiences the easiest and most forgiving snakes are cornsnakes, and milksnakes. What can I say to customers that are unwilling to do some research ahead of time, aside from selling them a book? Sometimes I remember to write down this website to hand out. But once I told a customer to go and do some research first, and my boss heard me, and still has not forgiven me for it.

I guess I just wanted to rant a little bit. It makes me sick to my stomach sometimes, selling an animal to a person that I can tell won't properly take care of it, or is constantly trying to take the cheap way out. My favorite customers are the ones that do their homework ahead of time, *or* they come in not really knowing what to get, but willingly buy everything I tell them to

Ball pythons are easy enough to take care of if you get the temps and humidity and cage setup right, but there is so much bad information out there, it can be tough to sift through it all, and some things might not really seem important enough to spend money on (like digital thermometers).

I just hope all the little ones I have sold are doing ok.