Hey y’all. So I’ve had my first snake - a blotched kingsnake - for about a year now, and I want to get a second. I’ve had my eye on a ball python - just a regular female, cheap but beautiful - at my state’s monthly expo. I’m hoping to get one next month.

But everything I’ve read online is making me concerned. My kingsnake is in a 55 gallon glass tank, and he’s doing fine, but ball pythons need a lot more specialized care. I’m in Michigan, so when it gets cold, it gets cold, and I don’t have a very high humidity. So, instead of another glass tank, I’m looking at a pvc.

I don’t have a lot of money, so I’d probably get a T10 as they’re on sale, but what extras would I want to get? Should I buy their heat tape, light bulbs, locks? With my kingsnake, my natural temperatures and such are pretty much perfect and I didn’t have to mess around with much of anything, so I’d like to get this right.

Also, I’ve read that it can take a really long time for cages to arrive. How long should I expect?

Narrowed questions: animal plastics or others? What extras to get from them or buy elsewhere? How to manage heat/humidity while also making it a display case? How long until the cage would get here? Any else’s experiences?

Thanks in advance!