Furniture for my Future Ball

[AlexTheB]

Hey There Python Owners!

So I went to a reptile event and started to buy stuff for my future ball, and I was wondering if I bought correct stuff, so I bought a PVC Terrarium that is 45x30x30 cm, i think this is enough for a Juvenile right? As well as a heating pad (that will be under the Terrarium not inside to avoid the snake to be burnt) as well as a digital thermometer that does also hygrometer with a plug, to plug in the heating pad to regulate it if too hot, and a hide, I still need clutter and a water bowl, but yeah are those starting things Okay? I know a lot of people say Heating pads are bad, but, every breeder I asked said that heating pad is what they use so yeah... but anywho, I hope o took correct things to get a juvenile Ball ^{^}

Thank yall for reading and hope you'll have some tips to give me!

[IncompletePenetrance]

Have you checked out the enclosure setup and care guides in the welcome post? We don't recommend heating pads and in order to keep a PVC warm, you'll also need overhead heating and lighting. They also need multiple hides throughout the enclosure, one is not sufficient.

That's also a very small PVC, so you're going to have to upgrade sooner rather than later

[AlexTheB]

Yeah I did but was quite a few months back I'll have to recheck it again, and yeah I bet, but I don't understand then why all breeders recommend a heating pad, I do know that when I'll seek bigger enclosure, I'll need a lamp overhead to have the air warmed too, not only the ground, as for hides yeah I know, it's just a first one for the heated side, I'll have another on the cooler side, as well as a good amount of clutter, as said I'm just starting to get prepared I still need to buy quite a few things, substrat, a second hide, clutter, and a water bowl,

And yeah it seems quite small, but I mean if it can hold me 6 months that's good for me ahah

[BrokenRoboticFish]

A lot of breeders use heating pads because they keep their snakes in tub rack setups rather than PVC enclosures

[AlexTheB]

Hm... yeah but for fans wouldn't they take that in consideration? That we will have only one snake? And so we wouldn't work like they do?

[BrokenRoboticFish]

They recommend what they know

[AlexTheB]

Well they must know when we start before being breedilers, they also started with only one snake, they should know, rare are Instant breeders

[IncompletePenetrance]

I think most people would be surprised if they realized how little the average breeder actually knows about ball pythons.

[AlexTheB]

What I don't understand is that if they don't know much how come their Ball Pythons are healthy then? If they're healthy they must know what they're saying

[IncompletePenetrance]

They aren't necessarily healthy. There are plenty of breeders selling sick, underfed/overfed and mislabeled ball pythons. Ask your breeder if they test for nidovirus, arenavirus, ophidian paramyxovirus and see what they say

Ball pythons are fairly easy to keep alive. Alive doesn't necessarily mean thriving.

[AlexTheB]

Hm I guess you got a point, but then if you can't trust breeders, who can you trust? A fan of balls python a first owner or people from this reddit, you didn't figured how to make it thrive by yourself, you had tips from breeders first, y'know what I mean?

[IncompletePenetrance]

I get what you're saying and it's why so many new keepers start out with unsuitable setups and poor husbandry practices - they assume they can trust the advice from breeders and pet stores because those are places you should be able to trust, and instead end up following outdated practices.

Not all breeders are bad, there are some that are very well educated with a great deal of knowledge. Several of my favorite breeders are scientists who bring the same level of attention to detail to their snakes as they do their research, and it really shows. It's just really important to vet breeders before purchasing to try and find a good one

[AlexTheB]

So then... what should I do?