Setting up a BP for less than 100 dollars

I am not bashing Brian nor do I particular dislike him but if you look at his videos he has this tile, and he uses a half log hide, a lamp from home depot with a regular light bulb and states heat mats don't need a thermostat because they do not get hotter than 95 degrees??!? It is even linked now in where you buy his Royal pythons a man with his experience should know better than to try to pinch pennies there but seeing all these enclosure WITHOUT a thermostat has me wondering how many people been lead a stray. Just wondering what everyone thinks here ?

if everything is working correctly the temp is not supposed to exceed that threshold. the problem is they don't always work correctly. I just had two blow out while hooked up to a thermostat. prior to that I've had one have a runaway, luckily I noticed the smell and was able to get it turned off before it did more than discolor the wood underneath and no harm to the critters it was supposed to be warming.

at best he is being very irresponsible.

I think he's just trying to sell more snakes....the pricey balls become more appealing when the average schmo thinks they can just skimp on the husbandry equipment. I've had people at petco give me better set up advice.

How to do it for under $100 INCLUDING A THERMOSTAT:

Hefty 100-qt tub, normally $20 currently on sale for $8 (I bought a dozen of these recently because they're just too useful and not just as snake tubs)
https://www.lowes.com/pd/Hefty-25-Ga...g-Lid/50150118

Depending on the size/brand you get, a UTH will run $17-25 from Amazon and a thermostat is $20-30. For $26 you can get one from iPower that has a thermostat/heat mat combo hard-wired together. It's not the best but if you're going cheap and you're only getting one ball python it's a lot better than an unregulated UTH.

Amazon has IR temperature guns from $4 to $40. Not sure I'd trust a $4 one but there are plenty in the $12-15 range that will work.

The AccuRite thermometer/hygrometer with probes is normally $12, currently on sale for $9.

Water bowls are available from the dollar stores for a buck apiece. Get two so you can swap them out when your snake uses it as a toilet.

Hides - Plastic food containers for microwave lunch/dinner meals are free after you've eaten the food in them. They also don't mold like those log hides do.

Substrate - newspaper is free. You can even make hides out of it.

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Originally Posted by bcr229

How to do it for under $100 INCLUDING A THERMOSTAT:

Hefty 100-qt tub, normally $20 currently on sale for $8 (I bought a dozen of these recently because they're just too useful and not just as snake tubs)
https://www.lowes.com/pd/Hefty-25-Ga...g-Lid/50150118

Depending on the size/brand you get, a UTH will run $17-25 from Amazon and a thermostat is $20-30. For $26 you can get one from iPower that has a thermostat/heat mat combo hard-wired together. It's not the best but if you're going cheap and you're only getting one ball python it's a lot better than an unregulated UTH.

Amazon has IR temperature guns from $4 to $40. Not sure I'd trust a $4 one but there are plenty in the $12-15 range that will work.

The AccuRite thermometer/hygrometer with probes is normally $12, currently on sale for $9.

Water bowls are available from the dollar stores for a buck apiece. Get two so you can swap them out when your snake uses it as a toilet.

Hides - Plastic food containers for microwave lunch/dinner meals are free after you've eaten the food in them. They also don't mold like those log hides do.

Substrate - newspaper is free. You can even make hides out of it.

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Its really not that hard. All in all with Paarthurnax's tub setup, i maybe spent about $80-90, and a good portion of that was shippimg. Granted, i was able to get some things on 20% discount at the store i worked at.

As for what Brian stated, it was irresponsible. When i saw that video, i wasnt too impressed, to say the least

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You talking about Brian Barczyk at BHB? I went there and couldnt find the video lol. As for what i think about it although i havent seen it, sounds like bad advice and he needs to be blasted for it lol.

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Originally Posted by Sauzo

You talking about Brian Barczyk at BHB? I went there and couldnt find the video lol. As for what i think about it although i havent seen it, sounds like bad advice and he needs to be blasted for it lol.

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Its also on his Ball Pythons main page, if you wanna find it quickly

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Nm, i found the video. I love how he says 'Reptile Prime is $15'.......but why did i pay $20.99 for it? It says free shipping....so again, why am i paying $20.99?

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Originally Posted by Sauzo

Nm, i found the video. I love how he says 'Reptile Prime is $15'.......but why did i pay $20.99 for it? It says free shipping....so again, why am i paying $20.99?

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That was before theychange it so it was just included in the price and called it "free"

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Lol so i can link Brian the video and then link him his price page for the product and say 'you said $15 on your video and on the product page, you say free shipping. So what is this extra $5.99 for? And if i decide to come pick it up from you directly, do i get it for $15?' Lol sorry, just slamming the inconsistencies in this. I'm a jerk like that :)

The sad part is even though i talk BS about the pricing and his BS free shipping, Dottie actually seems to like the stuff over cypress so i think i will have to suck up my pride and order it for Dottie :( Everyone else loves the cypress. It's always Dottie the BP causing waves lol. Doesnt want to eat....wants to be the unique snowflake with bedding.....:P

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Originally Posted by Sauzo

Lol so i can link Brian the video and then link him his price page for the product and say 'you said $15 on your video and on the product page, you say free shipping. So what is this extra $5.99 for? And if i decide to come pick it up from you directly, do i get it for $15?' Lol sorry, just slamming the inconsistencies in this. I'm a jerk like that :)

The sad part is even though i talk BS about the pricing and his BS free shipping, Dottie actually seems to like the stuff over cypress so i think i will have to suck up my pride and order it for Dottie :( Everyone else loves the cypress. It's always Dottie the BP causing waves lol. Doesnt want to eat....wants to be the unique snowflake with bedding.....:P

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What you won't do to keep your beautiful babes happy;)

I love Brian but even I told him he was wrong when he posted this video. I'm like no Brian you know better!

I also use reptile prime and will use nothing else. Best stuff ever and I used it before Brian was a part of it.

I used to be a fan of Brian and his YouTube channels. But I haven't watched one in ages. There are just better options out there if you want educational snake videos.
He's the king of clickbait, I hate how often he or Chewey or the others will intentionally get tagged. It just not good practice and not good for the animals. I'd be pissed if he was using a snake i was interested in as a toy to get YouTube views.
It's very clearly become more about fame and money than about the animals at this point.
...and I'm not trying to rile up a poop storm here, but the last bunch of videos I saw him in, he looked like crap. Unshaven with pinned, tired, distant eyes, etc...
Just made me want to look elsewhere.

That and i feel his videos are more about his big face and ego than the snakes or teaching. All the cutbacks and whip arounds to his face give me whiplash. Better vids are available. Although his vids visiting GTP breeders are full of eyecandy if you can get past him.

I didn't watch the video but unless he is specifically talking about one type or brand of UTH, he could get some of his snakes killed if one of his buyers takes that at face value. My first UTH from the pet store went well over 120 and cracked the first tank before I realized what happened. It works fine on a thermostat. That was after the pretty store told me I didn't need a thermostat.

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Lol yeah, the day I watched that video I posted a very to the point comment on it (in all caps lol). Also Sauzo, as far as the $15 vs $20.99 on reptile prime, turns out the fine stuff is 15 and the stuff we use is 20. Bought a bag to try out for my BRB and the truth is I really like it for her and she clearly loves the stuff. But suggesting the same thing that most Petco's will as far as a setup for a BP, especially coming from someone that has so much influence over all the people out there that want reptiles and don't know where to start, is incomprehensible to me. Epic epic fail and disappointment.

Speaking of which, I am looking for suggestions for fun snake videos/channels, if anyone can provide them...:)

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Originally Posted by Avsha531

Speaking of which, I am looking for suggestions for fun snake videos/channels, if anyone can provide them...:)

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The only reptile youtuber I really follow is DM Exotics, check him out.

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Originally Posted by Avsha531

Speaking of which, I am looking for suggestions for fun snake videos/channels, if anyone can provide them...:)

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https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCXb...able_polymer=1

Absolutely love all of this guy's videos and his editing skills are spot on.

Yeah, I'm not a fan of Brian for many reasons and how his videos are made in a way that tend to draw in a certain crowd that looks for the same "stardom" and money in quickly breeding snakes, which obviously never ends well or ends very quickly lol. That's just how I feel.

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Originally Posted by MD_Pythons

The only reptile youtuber I really follow is DM Exotics, check him out.

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Same here, DM Exotics/Dan Mulleary is the only one I watch at this point. He kept such a wide and interesting variety of snake species and is very informed about them! Unfortunately, I think he said he's mostly retired in Thailand now(?) and won't be doing much importing/breeding anymore.

I love watching Garrick DeMeyer from Royal Constrictor Designs: https://www.youtube.com/user/TheRoyalConstrictor/videos

I'm not a breeder and probably never will be one. Nonetheless, I get excited every time he start cutting open an egg to see what's inside. And his videos on his breeding program has helped me to get a little better understanding of some of the morphs out there.

Thanks for all the suggestions!

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Originally Posted by Avsha531

Speaking of which, I am looking for suggestions for fun snake videos/channels, if anyone can provide them...:)

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I also love 💖 Gavin Ball2U and Triple B tv ;)