Thinking about buying a ball python

No one seems to have addressed the feeders.

I order from Big Cheese (read reviews for any company you decide to go with - a few of them are terrible). BC is fairly close, so the box comes to me in a day or two. That dry ice stays frozen for days on end. Be very careful disposing of it. The box will be big, however that is mostly for the dry ice. The feeders won't take up much room at all - like a couple of steaks, depending on how many you order. I like to repackage them in smaller amounts so they won't get freezer burn. Have freezer bags or canning jars handy if you want to do that. Jars take up a lot more space, but I prefer them.

If you try to rely on the local pet stores, you will soon learn that they NEVER have a feeder when you need one!

I think it can depend on the local store (we're not talking about large chain stores like petsmart or petco). Buying bulk online is great... if you have a lot of snakes or have an adult snake. Otherwise, if you have a young snake, you can expect to upgrade feeder size within just a couple of months. In one year, mine has gone from mice fuzzies to small rats. One pack of rat pups is 25 rats. For $24.75 that's pretty good... but with a flat rate shipping of $29, that's almost $60 for 25 rats that he'll have already outgrown in maybe 1-3 months (about 4-12 feedings). That means you'd have a serious excess amount of rats and either have to feed small for about 3 months or double up on feedings (which isn't bad, but not really the best). That's why I recommended Zookeeper in my previous (a local reptile shop in Austin). They're much better than petsmart or petco, and it's way more convenient to go there. They rarely don't have a lack of feeders, and if they do, you just gotta come back the next day or two. They aren't the best, but they're not horrible. There's also quite a lot of local feeder breeders around here and San Antonio, too. It's overall much cheaper and better than bulk online... UNLESS, as I mentioned, you have an adult snake or you're just upgrading feeder size. Because at that point your snake won't be upgrading in feeder size or won't need to upgrade for awhile, so you can spend that $60 (or more/less, depending what it eats) and just save them up for half a year.

So I created a list of all of the items I would get for my setup:

Item	Price		Link
Sterilite Deep Clip Box ( 14 x 11 x 6.25 inches )	$24		https://www.amazon.com/Sterilite-19658604-Aquarium-Latches-4-Pack/dp/B004QJM0DG
Ultratherm Undertank Heater (6 x 11 inches )	$17		http://www.reptilebasics.com/ultratherm-undertank-heater-uth-6-x11
Jump Start MTPRTC	$28		https://www.amazon.com/Hydrofarm-MTPRTC-Digital-Thermostat-Heat/dp/B000NZZG3S
Digital Thermometer	$15		https://www.amazon.com/AcuRite-00782A2-Wireless-Outdoor-Thermometer/dp/B0009Y7RPS
Two Hide Boxes	$10		http://www.reptilebasics.com/hide-boxes
Water Bowl	$6		http://www.reptilebasics.com/water-bowls
White Duct Tape	$7		https://www.amazon.com/Scotch-Pearl-White-1-88-Inch-20-Yard/dp/B003YHBU1O/ref=sr_1_5?ie=UTF8&qid=1473921116&sr=8-5&keywords=white+duct+tape
Total	$107

Additionally, I would buy some clutter stuff from PetsMart or something, and I would have to buy some feeders. I'm thinking I would just visit that Zookeeper store in person. Does all of this seem good? Am I missing something important? I was going to use paper towel as my substrate, at least for a while.

You don't need a four pack of storage containers. Something like this will do fine, and it's much cheaper. :) You can also check out walmart if it's available (which is where I got mine). Home Depot may have them, too. There's also a cheaper digital thermometer, also acurite, you can use here (measures temperature and humidity). I'd recommend getting two so you can measure the temperature of the warm side and cool side (although in a small tub, it probably won't vary much, but you'll have them for later at least; be sure not to get them too wet otherwise they'll stop working).

You'll also want a temperature gun. While the acurite will measure ambient temperature, the temperature gun will measure surface temperature. You can think of it like walking outside bare feet and feeling how hot it is on your face (ambient), but your feet might be much hotter if you step on the concrete as opposed to the grass (surface). Hot spot (the surface) should be about 90F, cool ambient should be about 77-81F (can be a bit more or less, but not below 75F). That being said, if your apartment is too cool (and the ambient falls below 75F), then you can get a CHE (ceramic heat emitter). It's a heat lamp that doesn't emit light, but they get hot, so you'll need a cage/dome with a ceramic base and either a dimmer or second thermostat. Here's the CHE, here's the lamp clamp/cage, and here's the stand. Some cut a hole in the top of the lid and attach some wire mesh and set the lamp on top of that, but I don't do that because I don't want the wire mesh to get hot and burn my snake if he touches it nor do I want him rubbing on the mesh would would damage scales. Of course, this is IF your ambients don't get high enough, so you'll want to set up the cage and watch it for a week or so before you actually get the snake to make sure it's working, the temperatures/humidity are adjusted, etc. So I would wait to buy those to see if you actually need them.

I'd also get tongs for feeding, a digital scale that weighs in g if you don't have one (like this one), chlorhexidine for disinfecting (or some other disinfectant, but a gallon will last quite awhile), and white vinegar for regular cleaning (or something else).

You can drill holes in the tub, although you've gotta be careful. I've also heard that you'll need to smooth out the edges after, but I've never used that method so I can't give any input on it. I used a soldering iron which is much easier. And lastly, these vines are great for decor if you need to clutter up the space. They're long (6ft, you can cut in half), very leafy and easy to spread (unlike some other varieties where it looks like you just have a clump of leaves off to one side that don't really cover any actual space or hide the snake), and cheap.

For hides, you can buy them (the ones from reptilebasics are great), but you can also make some. If you ever get take out from Cocos (near MLK/guad), their to-go boxes are good hide shapes. You'll need to clean and disinfect them (obviously), but just cut a hole, sand it down so its smooth, and you can easily use the base (would be about the size of a medium hide, though, which will be too big for a small snake). You can also cut a tissue box into 1/3s and use each half end as a small hide (which will work for a small snake). Just be sure to exchange them once in awhile so it doesn't grow mold (it is cardboard after all).

I think that's all I can think of off the top of my head as far as basic supplies go. It's about $100-200, but a lot of that you won't have to buy again or at least for a long while (or until you upgrade enclosure size).