First-Time Snake Owner, Considering A Ball Python

[Lizardlicks]

Probably your best bet is to go to Repticon and see if there's anything there you just can go home without. Seeing them up close can really make your mind up fast!

[Dagger311]

Corn snakes/king snakes are the #1 beginner snake in my opinion, no special humidity, and can be kept around 85-87 which is only slightly above room temp. Ive heard countless stories of people getting a ball python as their first snake and not being able to keep humidity up enough (mostly from using lights). But! If a ball python is what you want, And you are prepared. (You seem educated enough) then go for it!

A MBK would do very well in my room, I know that much. The only reason I haven't got one of those is I can't find one, except for a site called Bigappleherp which has mixed reviews, and I don't want to buy from a place that can't reliably deliver healthy, active snakes. I also love reverse stripe kingsnakes, and the tiger pattern ones.

A Ball Python would be slightly harder to keep in my room (Kind of cold downstairs, especially in winter), but definitely not impossible, just more monitoring. They're easier to find, and the different morphs are really cool (There's more morphs of BPs I like than kings, but the kings I like, I like better than BPs).

Feeding outside of the enclosure is a myth. Infact it actually stresses the snake out more to feed it outside its enclosure because of the access handling after eating. Also, the "associating the enclosure with food" idea makes no sense. Because you are "associating" taking the snake out of its cage with eating when you remove it from its enclosure to feed it.

My snakes will know within the first 10 seconds I stick my hand into the cage if there is food or not, they usually will smell my hand, and once I touch them they know im not food.

Good to know, because I was definitely going to feed outside the tank before I read this and the other posts saying they feed inside.

Probably your best bet is to go to Repticon and see if there's anything there you just can go home without. Seeing them up close can really make your mind up fast!

July's a little longer than I wanted to wait to pick one up, but if I can't find a nice MBK or a BP morph I want by then, I'll go there and look.

[Craiga 01453]

Probably your best bet is to go to Repticon and see if there's anything there you just can go home without. Seeing them up close can really make your mind up fast!

Agreed.

I completely understand you not wanting to wait that long, I'm the same way. But, since it's easier said than done, my two cents is wait it out. A few weeks will go by pretty quickly and once you're there you'll find a snake that you fall in love with and you'll have for years to come.