Hey everyone. I’m new to morph market and to the world of reptiles as well. My boyfriend and I have decided to purchase a ball python. We have our enclosure already set up and somewhat ready to go. Just need to tweak some settings and forgive out how to keep the humidity stable and to get the ambient temperature where it needs to be. I’ve been reading blogs and watching videos, but they are mostly breeders and we are not at that stage yet. We are thinking about breeding, but not for a few years (our house is really small).
I look forward to networking with everyone and to getting to know you all.
Have a great day!!!
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HI and welcome to the community. Don’t be afraid to ask questions here, we are all willing and happy to help 
Don’t dismiss the videos and blogs from larger breeders, they were once where you are now. We all start out small and then it just gets really out of control 
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Welcome to the MM community. We’re always excited to welcome a new reptile owner.
Which kind of ball python morphs interest you and your boyfriend? I started out in balls, some can be a little picky when it comes to feeding at times, but make a very good pet.
Any questions on setup or husbandry let us know, we’d all be glad to help and lend our opinion on what has worked for us 
Welcome! If you have any interest in breeding in the future, i would recommend focusing the snakes you get now around what you will want to breed then haha. It takes them a few years to grow to a breeding age, and if you decide not to breed, youll still have pets that are the morphs you find most interesting :).
Thanks for the warm welcome. We are looking at the pastel, Mojave, bamboo, and banana morphs. I’ve seen several here that interest us.
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@verinium makes a good point on breeding and focusing now what you want to produce later. And on that subject I would suggest a female. They take longer to mature and if you end up not wanting to breed, they usually have a better feeding response through the course of their life.
Mojave and bamboo are very good first choices. I’m a huge fan of pieds and recessive genes in particular, plus they hold their value better throughout the years. Buy always go with something you find appealing, because you’ll have to work with these snakes for over 20 years, and it’s always more fun if you like it even if others don’t.
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I would have to agree with that. And I’ve been told to start with a female first by several people I’ve talked to already. We’ve been planning on getting a ball for months and like I said, we just got everything for our enclosure. I know almost everyone like tubs, but we decided to go with a glass enclosure. We like looking at the empty terrarium as it is right now, but will definitely love looking at it when we get a ball to put in it.
I like the pieds as well btw.
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Hey, welcome! This is a great place to be 
lots to learn from some knowledgeable folks
What size tank did you end up going with? Im actually a bigger fan of carpet pythons than ball pythons, so tubs arent a good option for me either haha. If when you get your girl, she has any issues feeding, remember that when they are young, they can be very insecure. An easy and cheap fix can be to have a small 5-10 gallon tank (or tub) to feed them in, with a nice hide that they can feel secure in. A snake wont eat if it feels insecure, and a small tank with a good hide is sometimes exactly whats needed! Plus they are easier to heat and regulate, so it can double as a shed assist enclosure if she is having issues shedding due to humidity issues in a larger enclosure.
as a sidenote, it is against the rules for breeders to advertise their snakes for sale or to buy on the forum, however they can show off clutch hatchings. If you see something that catches your eye, dont be afraid to click their username. Most will have a link to their shop, and you can likely pop them a message or wait for the one that caught your eye to become available on their store page! The forum itself is for general discussion, advise, and community, and having constant advertisements would clutter the conversations haha. Hope this helps you find what you are looking for 
Yeah, I look at the breeder’s sale pages. I didn’t mean in the community. 
We went with a 30 gal. Eco-terra (24x18x18). I like that I can open the front. Also, we got one hide that has a lid on it and it’s pretty heavy. It’s for the hot side. On the cool side, we have another smaller hide and water dish. We still have to get some enrichment items for the terrarium.
Very good, I’m happy to see you’ve done some research before you buy. That’s always needed with any reptiles you contemplate on purchasing.
Nothing wrong with a terrarium. If you’re having problems with keeping the humidity up, you can cover part of the screen top. A towel is the most convenient for many people.
I do like racks but starting out with one ball python, sometimes the investment can put many new keepers off.
I would recommend tho, add another hide or 2, many hatchling balls like tight spaces and the more hides the better. You may find your ball is ok with more open space, but each snake is different and it’s always good to be prepared incase you need to make adjustments.
It would also benefit them to black out 3 sides of the terrarium because open sides on a tank can scare/stress BPs and make them not want to eat.
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I have read that too. The terrarium came with a rock like back made of styrofoam or something like that. I was thinking about getting a small hollow log for enrichment/hide. I like the look of them and it would give the snake another hide in the middle. Also, some greenery just to fill up space.
Thanks for all the great advice, guys and for making me feel welcome.
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Of course! Any questions just let us know, and welcome again to the reptile hobby. It’s very addictive tho just as a heads up
I like the log idea! It will also be a good think for your snake to rub against when it comes time for shed
Yeah, that’s what I was thinking too. The bigger hide on the hot side is rough on top and around the bottom too and looks like it is covered in moss. So there’s another object the ball can rub against during shed.
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sounds like you have put alot of thought into this! Please let us see when you get your girl! Would love to see her in her setup
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Sure thing, but I think we are looking at a boy from a breeder here in Iowa. They are only a two and a half hour drive from us and I think it would be safer for the snake.