Hi! So hopefully in the near future I will be welcoming our very first ball python (or royal python as we call them here in the uk) to our family, however I want to do as much research as possible before purchasing as I don’t want to “learn on the job” however I’m finding a lot of conflicting information (I also have level 3 in animal management and worked with reptiles during my course which is why I decided a royal python would be the best choice of first snake as the two at college were so lovely). So I have been browsing vivariums the wooden ones with the sliding glass doors, and at college (which is where I’m finding confusing) they had the heat matts that sit inside the viv under the substrate, but I’ve seen a lot on how these can be harmful and the vivarium should be heated underneath keeping the matt and the snake separate. I vaguely remember at college being told that sometimes when the snake slid across the heat matt they could sometimes get lacerations as the plastic can be sharp.

also, with the sizing, I know realistically I would need a 5ft long viv or bigger, but I also remember that giving a baby snake that much room can actually cause stress and harm to the snake. Am I better buying a small viv and replacing it with a larger one as the snake grows or buying a 5ft/6ft ish long viv and then putting some form of divider to make the viv smaller and then moving it untill the snake is full size?

also any helpful information anyone can think of would be super helpful or any brands (uk preferably) that people recommend for heaters and thermostats, lights substrate etc that would be fantastic

thanks in advance 😁