First post, ball for my son!

[Seanjackmc]

Hey all,
What a great site, I've learned so much in just a short time. My son turns six in march and is begging for a snake. Since I can remember he has collected anything snake. I can't tell you how many nights I read about snakes from one of his dozen snake books. We live outside of detroit on 10 acres and spend much of our summer searching for garters. I must admit I'm a bit afraid of snakes but I really want to encourage his passion and help expand his knowledge and hopefully curb my fears a bit. After looking at snakes "recommended" for beginners my son is set on a ball. BHB reptiles is only an hour away so I plan to purchase a snake from them. We've watched all the snakebytes episodes.
Just looking for any tips from those who started with a ball. I've looked around the site a bunch but get overwhelmed a bit.
thanks to all who are posting their great ill be sure to keep you guys posted
stm

[The Serpent Merchant]

Welcome to the site!

The best place to start is with these 2 threads. After that feel free to ask any questions you have either here in this thread, in a new thread, or via a PM.

Care: http://ball-pythons.net/forums/showt...ius)-Caresheet

Cage Heating: http://ball-pythons.net/forums/showt...t-Thermometers

[Seanjackmc]

Thanks for the reply. I started with those two threads, great info. Do you happen to have any thoughts on bhb reptiles? Brian really seems to love his animals and that is important to me. I'd rather spend a little more to get a great healthy animal. I'm sure as I move forward ill have lots of questions.
thanks again
stm

[Rob]

Thanks for the reply. I started with those two threads, great info. Do you happen to have any thoughts on bhb reptiles? Brian really seems to love his animals and that is important to me. I'd rather spend a little more to get a great healthy animal. I'm sure as I move forward ill have lots of questions.
thanks again
stm

I have gone with bhb a few times and have always been happy with everything. Great service and awesome snakes!

[The Serpent Merchant]

I agree that Brian is a great guy, and that getting an animal from him would be a good idea especially if he is local to you.

[Capray]

BHB is great, lots of people have good experiences with animals from him.

[Seanjackmc]

Cool guys, thanks a ton. I'm getting more excited than boy and he is the true snake lover!
stm

[Cendalla]

I think BPs are a great first snake. Try to make it easy on yourself- worry more about finding one that is a good eater and maybe a little older than a baby (babies can be nervous and defensive). A fancy morph can be just dandy and really eye catching but you really want one that will fit into your lives. It would suck to get the one that looks cool but can't get him to eat or be held by the kiddo. That would be a major bummer for a first snake.

The people at BHB are awesome with taking the time to answer questions. Just tell them that you want a great PET snake that you and your kiddo can grow comfortable with. Heck- give them a call and tell them that you are planning on driving over I bet they could even have one of the staff there looking out for you

Best of luck and be sure to post lots of pictures!!

[ewaldrep]

I got a baby BP for my daughter, she was almost 5, and she has been a great first snake. She likes to take her out to read at night time. Good luck!

[SylverTears]

A BP is a great starter snake. I made the mistake of buying a tricky feeding BP as one of my first snakes, but if you look around there are lots of good eaters. As for BHB, they are awesome. I have bought 10 snakes from them and one of my fastest growing and best eating BPs is from there.