Quote Originally Posted by Deborah View Post
Wrong number one newbie mistake experiencing issues with their first BP is in 90% of cases too big of an enclosure. Housing an hatchling in a 30 gallons tank is the worse advice for a new owner.

Now OP

First you need to know whether you want to get an hatchling or and adult this will help with your supply list.

You are looking for an enclosure that is anywhere from a 6 quarts plastic tub slowly upgrading to 12 quarts or 15 quarts before housing your animal in his permanent enclosure tank, tub or cage which will not need to be larger than 36 x 16 as far as foot print goes, anything larger will not be better and will become harder to maintain and BP are not forgiven when it comes to husbandry. You can also start an hatchling with a 10 gallons tank but it will be a more expensive option as you will transition.

For a stand alone enclosure you will need a UTH or Heat tape, the best UTH can be found here http://www.reptilebasics.com/ it will also be a great place to get a RELIABLE thermostat and hides as well as water dishes and thermometers, yes there are cheap thermostats but remember thermostat are the SINGLE MOST IMPORTANT piece of equipment of your husbandry supply, cheap ones will fluctuate and will likely fail within a few years and many a known to fail wild open (this means burn and fire hazard)

For permanent housing if you are looking into cages Animal Plastics has great cages http://www.apcages.com/home/ , glass enclosure can work they how however harder to maintain and clean if you go that route a 30 gallons breeder is more than enough.

As for where getting your animal from I would recommend getting an animal from a breeder, rescues can be problematic and not the best first experience.

Thank you for your response!
I'm getting a lot of mixed messages about what is and isn't ok for sizing. Would the option to buy one tank at final size and then put a divider in as the snake grows be a reasonable option beyond just filling the tank with less objects to hide in as the snake gets larger?
It seems that in my state it's hard to find any rescues that have balls, so I probably will go with a breeder. As a first time owner, it does seem like a safer choice. What kind of differences would I expect to find between a snake bought from a breeder and one from a rescue?
Thank you for the links as well! I am hearing a lot of great things about animal plastics, so that will probably be where I end up turning to.