New Member, Haven't Bought a Darned Thing Yet!

[skiajl6297]

Greetings! First post here.

I am just getting serious in my research, and have yet to buy a single thing snake related! I have spent a few days reading up on caresheets, enclosures, thermostats, temperatures, morphs, searching for products that will work for us, and talking to my family.

I have two young boys with dog allergies, and have finally come to the realization that a dog is not in our families future, but my two young boys LOVE reptiles. I have experience with a pet tarantula from years ago, but have never owned a snake. My goal is for this to change.

The largest remaining hurdle is convincing the wife that she will love a pet snake. She is already coming around to the idea, but her mandate is that she must handle a snake before making a potentially 20-30 year commitment! I think that is reasonable, although I do not have anyone that I know that owns snakes.

Are there any DC metro (MD preferably) members who would be willing to introduce their BP to a family? We are likely going to go to a pet store to try to handle, but I am worried they will not allow it for a variety of reasons.

Regardless, I wanted to say hello, and introduce myself. Looking forward to continuing to learn, and thanks to all the contributors here. I have picked up a staggering amount of info lurking, in not much time.

Adam

[bcr229]

Congratulations on doing your research first. Before setting foot in a pet store you'll want to get the enclosure set up with the heat and thermostat running so you know everything is ready.

I'm also in the DC metro area (sort of) and I'd suggest staying out of Petsmart/Petco as I've never found one in this area that isn't infested with mites. If you're looking for local help getting set up I'd suggest the Facebook group "Maryland Reptiles Feeders And Supplies Classifieds". You can also find local expos advertised there so you can go and see a lot of critters and sellers at once.

For a first snake a king or corn may be a better option as they are more forgiving of husbandry mistakes and tolerate handling better than ball pythons do. My first ever snake was a high white California king and he's the one that I use to introduce non-snake people to snakes.

[tttaylorrr]

welcome! it's great you're doing your research first, so major kudos!
i second the idea of looking at corn or king snakes as a potential first snake, especially since you have kids. my first snake was a ball python however, so they're not out of reach for new snake owners, but it's more of a task keeping up proper husbandry for them and they'd rather be left alone most of the time.

all-in-all you're off to a great start! feel free to ask any questions you might have.

[Kaorte]

I am just getting serious in my research, and have yet to buy a single thing snake related!

You are the dream snake newbie. I hope someone in the DC area can help you out! If not, maybe there are some local reptile shows you could check out.

Ball pythons are so super friendly, I'm sure your wife will fall in love. And with all the cool color mutations, it will be hard to pick a favorite.

What is your budget like for enclosure?

[skiajl6297]

I feel like I already know I want a Ball, for a few reasons. I LOVE the look of BP's, I can manage the size, I am ok with a snake that has high husbandry requirements (and I intend to follow them if I do end up going down this path). I am ok with a snake that wants to hide much of the time, but I do want a snake that I can handle with the kiddos on occasion, safely. With that being said, I will also do some reading on Kings and Corn, although my wife has already said she wants a "slow" snake, and I am not a huge fan of the looks of those two compared to a BP. (No offense to the King and Corn lovers!)

Purpose to go to a pet store is purely to observe and handle. I won't tell them that, but I do not plan to support chain pet stores. I plan to buy from a reputable breeder online when the time comes, and after I have a proven enclosure. If we do this, we are going to do it right.

I just made a chart of all of the items I WANT to buy, their prices, and where to buy from, and eek, this won't be cheap. I have a few other hobbies from which I can perhaps sacrifice some of my gear to help fund this however.

My current target plan would be for the following materials, assembled in the basic setup of hot hide on the left, water dish in the middle, cold hide on the right.:

Showcase Cages	24"x18"x16"
Herpstat 2	Two temp probes for pad, and hot hide, controlling UTH and Radiant bulb.
Exo Terra Water Dish	Small
Reptile Hide Boxes	Small (2)
Temp and Humidity Probe	For cold side temp and tank humidity
IR Thermometer	For setup (and cooking non snake items)
Under Tank Heat Pad	5.9"x5"
Radiant Heat Lamp	Large Dome
IR Heat Bulb	150W
Eco Earth Substrate	24 Qt
Phillips Hue Lightstrip	Optional, but fun as I have other Hue products.
Snake	Morph TBD

One question I do have is how long roughly it may take for a hatchling to outgrow a tank of this size. I am really leaning towards a plastic container, but am put off by the long wait times on the more popular items, e.g. T8. I also want ease of cleaning, and a clean display look for showing a critter off.

Also, anyone with the small Showcase have a sense of what size heat pad would be ideal for the heat pad cutout? I emailed showcase but haven't heard back yet.

Thank you all for the warm welcome!

[Nellasaur]

I second going to an expo or a reptile show when it comes to getting some experience interacting with snakes. The animals are more likely to be healthy and in good condition and the people are definitely going to be more knowledgeable. Plus, you're more likely to be able to observe and handle adult snakes; the big box pet stores almost always have exclusively babies or juveniles. You wouldn't want to sell your wife on ball pythons using an underfed, sluggish hatchling BP as the representative of the species, would you? (Or alternatively, have her first experience be with a super-stressed out baby that's striking or otherwise behaving uncharacteristically?)

You are so going about this in the right way, btw, kudos on being a cool and responsible pet owner!!

[skiajl6297]

BCR - thanks for the Facebook recommendation! I am doing just that. Also for the idea of a show vs a store. Makes good sense.

[skiajl6297]

Quick update - things are moving along very well!

Thanks to bcr229's recommendation above, we found a local pet store where we were able to go and handle a few snakes. I also connected to an individual via the FB thread who met us at the store where her bf works, and shared a great deal of information, photos, and confidence. My family and I traveled to the store last weekend, handled a few snakes, and confirmed without a doubt that we want a pet BP!

We are all in. I purchased all of the kit, and should have everything in hand by this coming weekend. I intend to get the cage fully set up, and dialed in for a few days of temp and humidity monitoring. Once that is done, we will officially be off to the races!

We bought a beautiful snake from Royal Constrictor Designs, which is on hold for us until the enclosure is proven. She is a hypo pastel enchi, and she is a beaut! Hoping to request shipping some time next week, depending on the enclosure monitoring.

Thank you all for your feedback, and a special thank you to bcr229 for the helpful Facebook recommendation!

I'll post a new thread once I get going along with photos. Now I just need to figure out how to post photos!

My whole family is so excited!

[rock]

Great pick, that is going to be a beautiful animal!

Side note, my kids really enjoy watching SnakeBytesTv on youtube and some of the other snake related/animal channels since we picked up ours.

Enjoy your new addition!

[anthroterra]

Congrats, and welcome to (pending) snake ownership!! That's a beautiful morph, and I'm really a fan of what Garrick produces. I have a mystic potion from him, and he arrived happy and healthy with heat packs throughout his box.