Hey person reading this thing. I am brandy spankin' new to this site and am fairly new to snakes. I have always wanted one and now that I am 23 and finally have the opportunity to do so I find I have problems. So in addition to introductions I also have questions if you, dear reader, could please answer.

So first I have wanted a snake since I was quite about 13 or 14 but neither my father nor mother wanted to support me in that. It started with my step-uncle who owned a tarantula. I was fascinated by this creature, if creeped out. I mean bigass spider, ya know? So anyway one day he catches a green grass snake and cages it. Now this was what I was looking for. It was cute and yet still a dangerous predator...to lizards at least. I got to hold it a bit and loved the smooth scales and the gentle tongue flicking. I enjoyed it while it lasted because my step-uncle was more interested in feeding his tarantula with the snake which he did a day later. Heartbroken, I was. Thats when I asked my parents to allow me to explore the realm of reptiles.

Sad story aside, I had forgotten about my reptilian fascination for over 10 years until now. I took up one of the best games I have ever played, Dungeons and Dragons. I found a magical belt which transformed into a snake familiar on command and so I fell in love again by vicariously holding an imaginary magical danger noodle with my character. So I set about finding these slithery friends and encountered Jenny Gaines on YouTube who has several snakes, most notable is Waffle the Kenyan Sand Boa. But I found more and HLH reptiles, also on the Tube. Through Jenny I saw how adorable snakes are and through HLH I saw how they make amazing pets and also the basics of care.

So I did more research and found lots of valuable info. A veritable wealth of how-to and how-not-to. I found excitement in just learning it all. So now I am making overtures to make owning a BP or as I like to call them, Royal Python, and a Kenyan Sand Boa. The python will come first and some time down the line I will get my desert noodle. So aaaanyway, here is my first question: despite my preparations of the accumulation of knowledge and the purchasing of require materials (ie habitat and shtuff) I still feel a might unprepared and nervous; is that normal?

Now I did go to the only local exotic pet store and have a look at their selection and was not impressed. They had 3 babies, all of which were morphs and waaaaaay out of my budget, and a few adults which weren't for sale. The baby morphs didn't even seem like they might be the more valuable types. The one I remember was a Topaz. So I felt disheartened after that. I was wanting to hold my prospective friend rather than order somewhere since I can't seem to find a breeder to save my life. And so comes question 2 and 2.5: are there referral services to reputable breeders who ship on the site? Is that allowed? And 2.5 is how would I find a breeder locally if there are a few? I asked around, googled a bunch and got nil from it.

Question 3: and lastly can anyone recommend a decent, affordable thermostat? Every one I look at is freaking expensive.

So yeah, anyway, thats mah introduction post. Such a purdy post. Thanks for reading, if ya have till now.