So glad I found this site as soon as I unexpectedly brought a BP home

[halfnakedlife]

this is my rants about how pet stores in my area give me headaches!

my girl's, a pastel bp, been with me for 5 months. she's about nine months old now, around 2'5" long and 410g.
when i first got her from a small reptil exhibition (lost a battle of will with my 6yo daughter), the seller just told me to put her in the tank, make sure her water bowl is filled, cover the base with newspapers/papertowels and feed once a week. he assured me that BP is a perfect snake for beginner, easy to care and pretty much docile in nature.
because i am a responsible human being (well, i'd like to think that i am) and always teach my daughter to be one, i wanna make sure that i got everything right, though at that time i don't even have the courage to even touch the snake, let alone pet or pick it up.
so i began my internet search on snake as a pet and how to care for one...lo and behold it wasn't as simple as the seller said.
first i found lots and lots of 'real story' about how your snake will get so big and try to kill you and/or your kid in your sleep and news about loose 'ginormous' snake terrorizing neighborhood. then i learned about the importance of providing the right set up, what size to feed, what possible illnesses etc etc. overwhelmed about the info but thankfully, i found this community and decided to stick here.
that very first night i only had a tank, a water bowl and luckily a hide, a half log one, because my daughter insisted that her snake must have a home. i was panicking and just prayed for nothing wrong to happened on that night. tried to keep my cool, note a nearby vet address, made a list on pet stores in the area to visit, list what needed, read and reread the stickies and promised myself to kick my seller on his shin if i ever see him again.
much to my surprise, almost all pet stores (even the one who deal with reptiles exclusively) in my area didn't have what i found to be basic things to set up a good enclosure for snake nor anything for mites, bad shed, neosporin...i wanted to have a 'first aid' kit basically, just in case. some of them said that they hadn't restock and most just didn't carry one. plenty seemed perplexed that i even asked for those things.

here are some of the most frustrating experience:
when i asked for a hide (hoping to find a more closed off than the half log), the staff literally said 'what for?'. he then explained that a hide will only make my snake aggressive when handled and i won't be able to see her because she'll be hiding. and went to asked me 'what's the use of keeping a pet if u can't see it?' (cue the facepalm 🤦🏻:cens0r:♀️).
when i asked for digital thermometer & hygrometer, uth and thermostat, he said that our country is naturally perfect for bp so i don't need all those and that's why they never carry it in their store. (fyi, i live in tropical country where it's hot & humid all year long).
neosporin? 'don't know'
proven a mite or anything to treat or prevent mites? 'don't have'
shedding aid? 'don't have'
i gave up on pet stores and just left...
with visits to few hardware stores, online shopping and pre-ordering from a certain person, i was able to get everything i needed.

from then on she's happy with her tank, healthy and doesn't mind being handled.
now that she has outgrown her current tank and hides, i need to get a bigger one. earlier today i went to a pet store to order one as they don't have it ready in stock. the staff warned me not to, told me that my bp will get bigger if i put her in large enclosure, so best keep it where it is. you know, small size = good pet 🤦🏻:cens0r:♀️🤦🏻:cens0r:♀️🤦🏻:cens0r:♀️
sarcastically i said to him that by his logic i can grow my bp to a size of burmese python if i keep her in a very large tank, how exciting! he looked at me funny for not believing him.

...and that's why i am thankful for this site and all of you here for sharing your knowledge!
sorry if it's a long read



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