I'm new too... My son bugged the crap out of me for almost a year before I finally said... "Ask for gift cards for Christmas and we will add another member to the family if you get enough $$". My son is 12 and is a super responsible boy. And he spent the last year researching everything about ball pythons. However, since we added William Snakespeare to the family I have had a few questions myself. Billy, as I call him, is a very social animal unless it's feeding day. He is very happy to be handled for 20-30 mins a day except on the day he eats. And he's eaten every time we've offered a frozen/thawed fuzzy to him on Saturday mornings. He still hasn't pooped, but we've only had him for 2 weeks and I'm not certain when the last time he did it. But he seems to be fine. We got the zoomed kit for the tank and such. He does not seem to like the hide that came with it at all. And loves to hang out hiding in the fake plant that came with it instead. Any suggestions on how to make his little world a happier place would be greatly appreciated. I'm still not sure of all the terminology... .but my son tells me he is a "normal". Billy is surprisingly sweet and although feeding day is slightly distasteful for me he's made an excellent addition.