Extreme newbie wanna-be here....

[PitOnTheProwl]

Welcome.
Most everyone hit it out of the park.
I personally would go check out the expo (pricing will always be better).
Don't forget IF you do decide on a morph and are checking out sites from breeders, there is also shipping to add on (usually about $50).
Where exactly in the "southwest" are you? You might have breeders closer than you think.

First thing will be finding something that catches your eye and go from there.

[LittleTreeGuy]

Welcome.
Where exactly in the "southwest" are you? You might have breeders closer than you think.

That should be southwestern Pennsylvania... not southwestern US. I'm about an hour south of Pittsburgh, very close to West Virginia actually.


Okay, so I strolled up to Petco today. They had some BP's that looked to be healthy and were in the $60-$150 range. None really drew me in like some of the morphs I have seen. I was about to start loading up a cart with a 20long critter cage and some other stuff when I happened to ask a group of guys working there if they had thermostats in stock. Turns out, he is BOA guy and is going to the same expo I was planning on going to tomorrow. He kinda laughed and said, I wouldn't buy anything here... go to the expo and see what you can find. Worst case, you have to come back here or another pet store to pick up an enclosure, but it's likely that I can find something, perhaps even something used there for a lot less. I also spoke to someone from the expo via Facebook and they assured me I can get anything and everything there if I so choose. So now I'll just wait until tomorrow and check things out and see where that takes me.

I did have another question come to mind today... what do you all do in the event power goes out at your house? Do you use a computer UPS system or something, or just try to keep the enclosure warm?

[Crowfingers]

I don't know if they will be attending the same expo, but I recently got my first ball python from American Made Exotics.
I originally sent them an email to see if the available snakes on the site were all that were available, or if they had more that would be at the expo. I got a return email in less that a hour (this was at 10pm). Over the next 5 days I sent them at least 12 emails, all of which were answered nearly immediately. I was interested in three of the snakes, and they offered to bring them to the show so I could see them in person (also meant I didn't have to pay shipping). I did get my snake from them, he has been great, when I got home from the expo, the owner of American Made Exotics had emailed me and apologized that he didn't get to give me all the snakes info since he was busy with other customers. He ended up sending me the records of every meal he ever had plus every weight that had ever been taken while he was with the breeder. Because of this experience, I would highly recommend looking them up, or talking to them if they are at your expo. I know they go to a lot of expos on the east coast.

[gaitedappy]

I did have another question come to mind today... what do you all do in the event power goes out at your house? Do you use a computer UPS system or something, or just try to keep the enclosure warm?

I too would be interested to hear some answers to this question, it's isn't one I've thought of. I suppose one could use a small generator if it's needed, but I would think the enclosure should be able to hold the heat for a while before that would be needed...

[ShaggyRS6]

I too would be interested to hear some answers to this question, it's isn't one I've thought of. I suppose one could use a small generator if it's needed, but I would think the enclosure should be able to hold the heat for a while before that would be needed...

FWIW I used to use a UPS on my Marine Fish tank. Had to use it a couple of times.

[OhhWatALoser]

I did have another question come to mind today... what do you all do in the event power goes out at your house? Do you use a computer UPS system or something, or just try to keep the enclosure warm?

Most of the time it isn't an issue, this is another case were pvc is superior also, it won't let the heat out as quickly as glass. but eventually no matter what your enclosure is made out of the enclosure will eventually get to room temp. Most people's houses, a couple days isn't going to hurt the animal. but if the room happens to be really cold for some reason, you can use heat packs (the kind you ship reptiles with, not the kind for an muscle injury) to warm the enclosure back up.