this is REALLY long winded. pardon me for the NOVEL of a back story.

So, i've had my girl for 6 months, and have DEFINITELY been bitten by the ball python bug (not the ball itself). I have one breeder around here, whom i got my girl from and she is great. i have not a complaint about her. But if i add another to my family i'd rather get an animal out of a bad situation or give one a forever home. Im only geared for ball pythons, corns arent really an option because they are far to active for my boyfriend ( poor boy is freaked out by snakes already ) and there is NO way i have the room or finances to care for an iguana.

My room mates recently adopted to cats from a local adoption agency. I do a little research on them, apparently they ALSO do reptile adoptions. So i do a little more research, and they have one ball python available for adoption. I start to perk up.

They have very little information on their website about their reptile adoption policies (except that to adopt any animal you need to be 21 or over, understandable).

So, i went there today to check the place out and talk to their "reptile specialist" about this little one (the site names the snake as two different genders..ill get into this later in the post).

The snake, who is listed as being one year 7 months is smaller than my ~500g, 11 month old female. This is why i think it is a he. the "specalist" told me he thought it was a female based on the lack of anal spurs (...) i am thinking about pointing him to this website to get a little more information about these animals. He said he had 3-4 of his own and he'd been keeping them for four years and everything else about the aftercare seemed fine except for that. But this little boy was very very healthy looking. He was full bodied, very clean, clear vent, eyes and nostrils, active and alert without being really freaked out etc, he'd just shed but he had a bit of a stuck shed on him and his humidity was much too low. his eye caps were dented both of them and he was a little head shy which i would expect.

the big problem with him is that he is strictly (for now) a live feeder. the previous owners claimed that they "tried for a year" to get him to switch. I dont even see how he could be a year old. Their specialist has been taking him home once a week to feed him at his house because the shelter technically is not allowed to feed live.

Now, im worried for the little guy. He seems healthy but his humidity is WAY too low. he has no belly heat they're heating him with a red bulb. AND he's getting moved once a week to be fed! I feel like this is REALLY just stressing him out and that is why its hard for him to switch over. are there some snakes that just never switch? I would love to add another to my family but Im having a tough time deciding if this is the boy for me. I have been told a variety of ways to switch live feeders to frozen/thawed. Im afraid to feed live, but to a snake that is experienced in doing it i have less of a problem ( i just feel like my own girl is not the brightest python in the box ) but this boy has been doing it for a while. There are petsores around where i can get feeders so that isnt an issue, i just prefer frozen/thawed for the ease and safety.

opinions, advice?
and again, sorry for the absolute wall of text.