Another noob coming out of his hide.

Hello everyone!

My son has been begging for a snake for over a year now. Frankly I've never been much of a snake guy, (quite the opposite actually.. ;) ) and have successfully avoided the purchase, instead we compromised and got him a leopard gecko earlier this year. Well he's done such a great job looking after his gecko that my wife and I decided to sign off on the snake.

We have been using an Exo Terra with great success for the gecko so I purchased the large wide model for the ball python. After much research on this site, we quickly learned that this was not the best of ideas due to humidity and temperature concerns so I've returned that and will be placing my order for an Animal Plastics PVC enclosure later this week along with a 65w RHP based on Bob's recommendation from ProProducts, trying to decide on the T8 and T10. In the meantime, we setup a 10 Gallon glass tank with a heating pad and a CHE each on a different thermostat and have foiled off about 1/4 of the screened lid to help maintain humidity. Temps and humidity seemed to be on point for several days, so last night we picked up an Orange Dream Leopard male ball python for his 10th Birthday. Got him from Outback Reptiles which just happens to be down the road from our home.

He seems to be adapting well to his new environment, even though it's killing the boy not to be able to handle him during this transition period.

Just wanted to introduce myself and thank you all for the invaluable information I've learned from lurking on this forum for the past few weeks. I would have been completely lost without this wonderful resource and all of you!

Just watching him for a few hours last night and briefly handling/inspecting him at the time of sale, I can already tell this little guy is going to change my opinion (and maybe even a little fear ;) ) of snakes in general.

Here's a quick shot of him exploring his new digs..

https://ball-pythons.net/forums/cach...4dc544b7_b.jpg


Thanks again!
-David

T10 is much better. That 3 extra inches of height makes all the difference in cleaning, space to put decor, and just better heating with the RHP (it eases any concerns with having things too close to it)

welcome to the forum!!!
:welcome:

wonderful, wonderful read! i'm so happy to hear you've given your kid some wiggle-room on keeping a pet snake. you seem like you've done plenty of research and are already off to a great start. i promise your little noodle will change everything you've ever known about snakes. ;)

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by SDA

T10 is much better. That 3 extra inches of height makes all the difference in cleaning, space to put decor, and just better heating with the RHP (it eases any concerns with having things too close to it)

---

Thanks! That's the direction I've been leaning as well, especially for ease of cleaning. While it's nice that the T8 is on quick ship, thankfully the build/ship times for a T10 are not really an issue since at his size he's probably better off in the smaller 10 gallon for a while.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by tttaylorrr

welcome to the forum!!!
:welcome:

wonderful, wonderful read! i'm so happy to hear you've given your kid some wiggle-room on keeping a pet snake. you seem like you've done plenty of research and are already off to a great start. i promise your little noodle will change everything you've ever known about snakes. ;)

---

Thank you! Yeah, lots of forum reading and of course the University of YouTube. ;)

Welcome!!! Glad you found the forum and glad you were willing to green-light the snake based on your son doing so well with his leopard gecko.

We are happy to help with any questions you may have and great job with the research so far!!

Based on what I know of the AP enclosures, most people who go with the T10 are happy they opted for the extra height.

Good luck and keep us posted :gj:

Welcome!
Thats an awesome combo you picked, especially for a first time owner. Nice job and congrats on the new pet, before you know it you’ll wonder what you ever had against snakes in the first place, ball pythons make wonderful pets :)

Welcome! I am a new snake mom, too, thanks to my kid wearing me down. ;) This was a battle I'm happy I lost though! I think our kids will grow tremendously from the responsibility of keeping a special animal of their own, and we earn major cool-parent-cred points for letting our kids have a snake. LOL.

What's your new guy's name?

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by hilabeans

Welcome! I am a new snake mom, too, thanks to my kid wearing me down. ;) This was a battle I'm happy I lost though! I think our kids will grow tremendously from the responsibility of keeping a special animal of their own, and we earn major cool-parent-cred points for letting our kids have a snake. LOL.

What's your new guy's name?

---

Thanks! I believe he's going to be Leo, playing off the leopard part.

:welcome:

you're off to a great start! stay, learn, help each other out and have fun! also post more pix when u can. :)

Congrats and welcome!!! You guys have really done your research, and it's amazing to start out properly right off the bat!

You should post some more pics of his setup. :D It looks beautiful from the one pic