Advice on setups, breeders, etc?

After a lot of lurking, I found this place has the nicest community for reptile-lovers I've seen yet! I thought it wouldn't hurt to ask a few questions here, I have a lot of planning to do and any input would be great.

It will be awhile before I can get a Ball Python, but I will most certainly get one when I can afford all the costs behind owning one! But, before that, I want to make sure I have everything I need to care for one and eventually breed some. There's things like thermostats, scales for weighing the little (and not so little!) guys, money saved for possible vet trips, enclosures be it PVC or/and tubs, and all that but after the main big ones peoples' lists tend to shift around and vary. What do you guys suggest as the big things to have ahead of time? Any brands you recommend above all others?

Also, breeders are another thing I have been looking at. There are a lot of them, though, and my main focus are Piebalds which not everyone carries, so I'm curious if anyone here has a really trustworthy breeder (or IS one!) to recommend or if they hear anything good about a certain few! My state doesn't have many local ones or else I would look there. Repticon does come here, sometimes twice a year, would that be one to go for? Feel free to post any you think of with pieds, I'll do my best to research and such.

When a breeder is found and I can eventually afford one or more pythons, what would you guys suggest would be the best thing to do? I think it might be wise for me to get one (a year or two old, perhaps?) to get the hang of caring for it well, then move up from there. I have owned a snake in the past, but it was a native one and very easy to care for in comparison! But, that said, if you guys think it might be wiser to get a few at once, what would you suggest for future breeding? Two females, one male? Reverse that? I heard that if two different morph males breed with a single female there's a chance for traits of both to pop up in the clutch.

On that note, how much would you all suggest keeping in case of vet visits? I hear $500-$600 per snake being tossed around, would that be enough?

Any other suggestions for preparing would be very helpful! I've been researching these little guys for over a year now, but I hope that soon I might be able to start saving for one or more in the near future. :) Thank you all in advance for all the information you have here! Again, this is a nice community, and I hope maybe to be more active someday.

If you plan on breeding I would suggest a rack system. You can spen a lot of money on one or you can google how to do it inexpensively. I wish I would have gotten more females when I started. I am about 50/50 but still want more females. Figure out which ones you like or would like to make and buy them.

I plan to breed piebalds, but I'm unsure which specific type yet...I'll be sure to buy more females than males when I first start into breeding, though! Thank you for your input, and if anyone else has anything to add please feel free. :)

Make a reptile room if you can. Dose not have to be hugh. I stole the girlfriends walk in closet. Not my ideal setup but it makes keeping the husbandry way easyer. I wish i would have got a rack way before i did because display tanks take up alot of room..and harder to keep up than tubs.. try to find a good local rat breeder or breed your own. And the most important thing is have fun and enjoy what you do. Shows are prob you best place to find good deals on animals and suplies. Good luck with just pieds this addiction is powerful

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Originally Posted by frostysBP

Make a reptile room if you can. Dose not have to be hugh. I stole the girlfriends walk in closet. Not my ideal setup but it makes keeping the husbandry way easyer. I wish i would have got a rack way before i did because display tanks take up alot of room..and harder to keep up than tubs.. try to find a good local rat breeder or breed your own. And the most important thing is have fun and enjoy what you do. Shows are prob you best place to find good deals on animals and suplies. Good luck with just pieds this addiction is powerful

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I've learned a lot about rats over the years, so I hope to breed my own feeders. :) Local reptile stuff is difficult to find in this state, so I'd be ordering them or going to the local pet store which I would rather not do even if they are intended to be feeders. I'll be sure to save up for a show! It certainly won't be only pieds I breed, I can already tell that, but they will be my starting snakes. :D I fell in love with their pretty colors the moment I saw them...I think it might have been them that got me to think about breeding snakes when I could afford to.

When it comes to breeding feeders, do you have any suggestions on where to get the starting rats/any specific stuff to look for in the rats? I'll be sure to research it, but any input is great.

A reptile/snake room is a wonderful thing to have. Our snakes are kept at ambient temps, and a humidifier is used for humidity. This keeps me from having to buy more heat tape every time I add a new rack and adjust individual humidity levels. I would also suggest if you are going to breed your own rats to go ahead and buy a few, get them going while you look for your next snake(s). That will give you time to let your females grow to breed and if you have extras you could freeze or sell them off .

I'll for sure start on the rats when I can. How would you recommend finding initial breeder rats and caging arrangements for them? I'll be looking this stuff up of course, but it's always nice to have a starting point!