The costs, man! The costs!

[Neal]

Lol I can relate to this... I didn't even go for a fancy tank setup or anything but the costs still ended up piling on (not all of it from the enclosure though, I also just needed general supplies), and I feel like I'm still continuously upgrading stuff. The most expensive items I bought were the two thermostats I use.

My breakdown:
30 gallon Sterilite tub = $25
ZooMed Reptitherm UTH = $30
Jumpstart Thermostat = $50
Cypress Mulch bedding = $16
Two cave hides = $24
Digital thermometer/hygrometer = $10
Three spray bottles (for water, vinegar, and F10) = $9
F10 = $30
Extra (smaller) sterilite tub = $15
Fake plants = $6
Feeding tongs = $10

Later ended up adding a ceramic heat emitter + thermostat because I didn't want to keep my bedroom temperature at 77F anymore, so:
Ceramic heat emitter = $20
Inkbird Thermostat = $45
Wire mesh = $15

Total spent on enclosure: $241
Grand total = $305

And I'm probably eventually going to upgrade him to one of those wood + glass vivariums one day so that'll cost even more. It never ends!

On the bright side, so far I don't think anything I've bought is regret-worthy. I'd love to have one of those beautiful pieces of sculpted wood for my BP to climb and decorate the enclosure but they cost way too much lol, I'll stick to looking around my backyard for that.

Honestly it depends on how you'd like for your enclosure to look. I bought 3 ball pythons and each has a totally different setup and the price tag showcases how much crap I cut out. Don't get me wrong, you can make your enclosure look natural and amazing.. I for example want a bioactive vivarium.. but I am too busy for that right now.

• First ball python (~$250):
  
  • ZooMed 20 gal starter kit ($180 CAD)
    
    • iterally everything in the starter kit other than the tank was garbage.
    
    
  • Corner water bowl med ($14 CAD)
  • cheap thermostat ($50 CAD)
  • Plastic plants ($2 CAD)

• Second Ball python (~$175)
  
  • Used 60-70 gal PVC cage I got from the reptile manager at Big Al's. ($100 CAD)
  • hide from dollar store ($2)
  • another cheap thermostat from amazon ($45)
  • big ass corner water bowl ($27)

• Third Ball python (~45)
  
  • ​55 Gal flat plastic tup from Ikea with lid ($23)
  • Dog water bowl from dollar store ($2)
  • Paper towel from the kitchen as bedding
  • $17 hide from reptilesrus.ca

tl;dr

It's all about how "pretty" you would like for your enclosure to look like and how much of a hustler you are when it comes to finding good deals. For example, instead of buying aquarium decorations from pet-smart or pet sections at other stores, go got them from the dollar store. Instead of buying those rolls containing images of trees to be used as a backdrop for your enclosure, make your younger siblings draw on a white board and use that instead..

Do not get a cheap thermostat. I hate to break it to you guys, but get a reliable thermostat, cause when it fails which those cheap ones do, they will kill anything in that enclosure if you don't catch it. I've seen it happen many times, seen many threads about it and seen it on many posts. When they fail, they get blasted wide open. If you're not going to get a reliable thermostat, then don't spend money getting an animal because you're just going to kill it and then that's money you've wasted anyways that you should of used to get a good thermostat. You want a Good Vivarium Electronics, or a good herpstat which have fail safes built in so when they fail they don't go full blast and kill your animals.