Hi there!

I'm a longtime reptile lover from Canada, finally about to get my first snake- a ball python- and learning all I can as I prepare for him to come home next week! I'll be lurking in here for a while, no doubt, so I thought I would say hi, lol. Looking forward to sharing and learning more from everyone's experiences with these lovely animals. :3 Cheers!

:welcome:

They’re addictive...but I’m sure you picked that up already. :D

Welcome to the forum!!!

You've come to a great place to learn!!
The best advice I can give you is to have your enclosure and equipment up and running and dialed in before bringing your snake home. Make sure your thermostat and heating equipment are functioning properly and your temps are dialed in.

Also, read, read, read and read some more. The more we know about our pets the better we can care for them.

Hood luck and feel free to ask any questions you may have. We're happy to help.

Thermostat!
Temp gun!
Nothing adhesive in the enclosure EVER!

And especially, welcome. :)

Welcome to the snake addiction (and to the best forum!)...you should know that we're mostly "enablers" here. (evil laugh) ;)

For sure, get your enclosure up & running about a week before your snake comes home, so if there's a problem, you can work it out ahead of time and without
stressing your new pet. Reading temperatures accurately is super important, & that means knowing the right way & place to read them also.

The hardest thing when you get a new snake is to not handle them at all until after they've had time to settle in and preferably fed 3 times easily for you...but
trust us, this is really for the best, & especially important with young (hatchling/neonate) snakes. Handling can disrupt their instincts to eat because the only thing
that normally picks them up in the wild is a predator. You want them focused on food, not fear.

Remember we were ALL new at one time...ask those questions, we don't bite & probably asked the same ones at one time. :snake:

Thanks for the warm welcome, guys! I have ALMOST everything set now. The enclosure is cleaned and set up, UTH ready, but the thermostat- obviously the integral part in managing things safely there- is set to arrive tomorrow. So I will have a week to tool around with it as needed (and I did invest in a nice temp. gun, as it definitely seems the best way to get accurate readings for safety and comfort!). :3

I have indeed been preparing to agonize over wanting to handle him off the bat, but will refrain for sure, as I want to make sure to keep things as low key for the little guy as possible. And as for my impending addiction... wellllll.... I will just have to find a way to live with it, I suppose. :P

Welcome and good luck!