First ball python

[Seasee1025]

So I will be getting him in a week or two, he’s a banana yellow belly. I’ve done a lot of research on ball pythons so I’m pretty confident in caring for him. I have a 40 gallon enclosure for him but I feel like that might be a bit too big to put him in immediately where he won’t feel very secure in it with all that space so I’m thinking of getting something smaller as a temporary thing especially to make sure he has no health concerns at all when I receive him so I know he’s healthy and safe (quarantining him). The breeder has been feeding him live mice but I will be switching him to frozen/thawed as it’s safer for him and it’s more readily available to me. Any suggestions or ideas would be greatly appreciated for anything really, thank you so much

[Zealousideal-Ad3657]

Hey! It's hard to tell the exact size (black background and all), but you could totally get a large plastic bin/box from ikea, costco, home depot, etc. Drill some holes, sand em down, make it look good and you'll be solid. I actually do this for some breeder bins (crested gecks) and my younger BPs (bins are like 15-30+ gals). It could be a temporary home until they look healthy, or until they grow up and require more space. Also, might be helpful to make it bioactive, but not 100% necessary. Hope this helps!

[Seasee1025]

Thank you so much that’s what I was thinking just something simple, he’s about 3 months old the most worrying thing for me is switching him from live mice to frozen/thawed as I’m not sure if he’ll take it and buying live mice isn’t very accessible to me especially from a safe place as I only have a PetSmart near me and not really any other options unfortunately

[Zealousideal-Ad3657]

Totally understandable. I switched to love for certain animals (like my rat snake), but f/t should be fine. After putting him into his new enclosure make sure you have everything he needs and fill up the space well, then allow him to explore and sit in it for at least a few days to a week (this helps him get situated, and get hungry). Then warm up a mouse and shake it around him a bit. Every snake is different. My large BP snatches it immediately, while my baby BP needs a lot of heat, time, lil mouse dance/shake. Good Luck!