I just want a pet!

[wowmattsays]

Hey everybody!

I have been a lurker here for a while, and I am now looking for some advice. Background: In the past, I had a California Kingsnake and a Leoparg Gecko. I had the king when I was a bit too young to have it, but I learned about feeding habits and maintaining cage set-ups, however it has been about 7 years since the last time I owned a reptile. I am moving to Tampa in a few weeks, and when that happens, I will be taking about 6-8 months off of work to study for the CPA exam, and I will have some time to put towards getting a new pet! My fiance and I currently have two indoor cats, and I think a Ball Python would be a great addition to our little family. I've been basically doing nothing but reading posts here and elsewhere on the internets about care and husbandry and feeding and the general habits of the BP, but 99.9% of what I have read pertains to the eventual breeding of these lovely creatures. I have absolutely no interest in breeding them at all, I just want one snek that looks super cool (I'm a big fan of the Banana morph) and that I can interact with as often as is apprpriate and will be a simple and interesting family addition. My question is: what is the best way to go about finding a PET? Morph market and the classifieds here and instagram, etc are all about the intense genetics and breeding potentials and "het" and "poss" and "allele" and all these other words that I just have no knowledge of or interest in! All of this being said, breeding is super cool, and I have certainly learned some things through reading, and I also know that without breeders, I wouldn't be able to find my pet! However! My interest stops at what my new buddy will look like, its temperament, and how easy it is to give it a long and really happy life. I am looking for any suggestions you wealth-of-knowledge-ers might have, recommendations, where to look, advice, and anything snek related! Thanks for reading everyone, and I appreciate the help in advance.

Matt

[tttaylorrr]

welcome!!!

i suggest you research the area you will be moving to and see if there's any local pet stores in the area (not a big-box store). that way you can go there and actually interact with the snake(s) you're interested in.

my last two snakes were purchased off of MorphMarket from great breeders and i have been very happy with how the site helped me find my new additions. you can use MorphMarket's MorphMap to see if there's any breeders in your area or near your new Tampa location and meet the breeders in person.

just make sure that wherever you decide to purchase your noodle from, do PLENTY of research on the business or person's reputation. you can use FaunaClassifieds.com's BOI or search our Feedback/Inquiry forum right here on our site.

[KayLynn]

Buying a multiple gene or het snake from Morphmarket doesn't mean you gotta breed them. Any ball python that you purchase, even if it has a het gene (although for a pet snake that's not necessary) will still make a fantastic addition to any family as a pet. There's a great selection of bananas and coral glows. Pick whichever snake stands out to you, and if it happens to be het for something that's no big deal.

Keep in mind that hatchlings tend to be a bit more snippy then older snakes do (but not always, I've got a couple that are really chill) and if you order online you won't know the personality of your snake until it gets there. And if you do buy a hatchling, make sure it's an established feeder before you bring it home.

Research who you're buying from, and check your area for local breeders if you'd like to meet a snake before you bring it home.

Good luck! We expect pictures of the new noodle when you get one

[artgecko]

What the other two posters said... Purchase a morph you like the looks of. Sometimes morphs with multiple genes look better.. For example, a firefly (fire pastel) will stay brighter / look better as an adult. So in the end, it doesn't matter if you want to breed or not, you just want to get an animal that you think looks good since you will have it for around 20 years.

Local reptile shows can also be a good place for research / purchasing. If there is a show near your new home, then try to get the breeder list beforehand and research them so you know who to stay away from and who to buy from. Make sure you purchase from a breeder and not a store / flipper. There isn't anything inherently wrong with either, but they know less about the individual snakes and sometimes their animals can have more disease due to exposure to many different animals from different places. There are bad breeders to, hence it being important to research who you buy from.

I would also suggest having your setup ready to go at least 1 week before you plan to purchase so that you can monitor temps and humidity and have them perfect for the snake when it arrives.

If you have any questions, please feel free to ask and welcome to the forums!

[wowmattsays]

Thanks for the replies everyone! I am severely anal-retentive (pardon my french) so I am very confident in my abilities to keep the enclosure at a steady required temp/humidity, but I will most certainly have it in place and up and running well before I have my new friend! I will keep asking questions as they come up for sure. Thanks again!

[Ax01]

welcome matt!

just go here and read up on the caresheet thread on how to care for your soon to be new pet: https://ball-pythons.net/forums/show...ius)-Caresheet

anything else, just ask the community. we've got breeders, hobbyists, rescuers, pet owners here to help.

[enginee837]

Keep in mind the bananna morph does not look the same as an adult as it does as a youngster. If looks are important and you like the younger banannas, you may be better off with a coral glow. They look similar to bananas but retain the look of the younger ones.
With that said, if genetics are not a big interest to you and you have no plans to breed you may get lucky and find a rescue of some sort (not likely aa banana or gc). Not so much to save money but to give a snake a good home.

[JodanOrNoDan]

There are quite a few breeders in the Tampa area.