Crowley progression thread

[Valyndris]

I am finally starting a progression thread for Crowley. First I'd like to mention he was born on July 15th 2013 and will turn 6 years old next month. I adopted him on August 22nd, he was 39 days old and weighed 123 grams when i picked him up. My mom had a pet store and invited me to come with her to see her local snake breeder as she knew snakes were my favorite animal. He had only 1 baby normal ball python left to sell from the current clutch, i had him in my hand and he was just so adorable, even my mom found him cute and she wasn't too fond of snakes back then. She told me I was allowed to adopt him if I wanted him. I was 22 at the time and was completely able to care for him myself and pay for anything he needed. I just couldn't say no to such a cute little baby ball python and I adopted him. This was a spontaneous purchase which I usually never do without research but I asked the breeder many questions and decided that I could take care of my new little baby.

Since my mother had a store (which was in the house) I could literally just go downstairs and buy anything I needed for him. He started off in a 10 gallon tank but quickly moved up to a 40 gallon once he was settled in. I know most people advise against upping the tank size too soon but Crowley did fine and was eating well shortly after I got him. My mother already had the 40 gallon tank set up as a display for the store and she gave me that at a great discount for Crowley. I did tons of research about ball pythons the day I got him and learned everything I needed to take care of him. He had a cool side with a hide at around 80 degrees and a warm side with a hide at 90 degrees, I got him a fogger (which he still loves today) to keep his humidity at 55% or 70% while shedding. His setup got upgraded over time and I now use a thermostat to make sure his hot side doesn't get too hot and to keep his humidity perfect. He also had a water bowl and a volcanic rock to rub on for shedding. The spoiled little guy also had vines and branches to climb too. He was such a clumsy little noodle when he was a baby, he'd wake me up at night (he lived in my bedroom, I still lived at home back then) making noise from his butt falling off his branches, I'd get up thinking he got hurt but was always fine as he could only really fall 1 foot.

Here are some baby pictures of Crowley:
First is a picture the breeder took and is the youngest picture I have of Crowley, I unblurred it as much as I could with photoshop but it's still blurry.

Next is a picture of Crowley in a cichlid rock, I learned to regret giving him a hide that has a bottom as once he shed and pooped/peed in there and wouldn't come out, I had to gently break the rock to get him out.

Next is a picture of Crowley with the tongue sticking out, hanging out on the couch with a blanket on it

Here it shows the full length of the little guy on the same couch and blanket

Next is a baby picture of Crowley balled up, I edited out the background and made it clearer with photoshop

I will post in sections as there is a lot to say about Crowley for the almost 6 years that I haven't started this thread for till now. This post is all about his time as a baby.