Buying supplies for new snake

[Alesha]

Hello, I am going to Repticon this weekend and hopefully getting my first snake (Russian Rat Snake). I was wondering if I should go out before hand and buy all the stuff for his enclosure or if I should just buy it at Repticon. I’ve heard people say that stuff at Repticon is cheaper, but I’ve always heard that you should have your tank set up in advance to make sure your levels are correct. Also, do you think Repticon would just have the same stuff as pet stores or some unique things??? Thanks in advance! 😁

[IDvsEGO]

I went to repticon in Atlanta recently and posted my impressions of the pricing. If you are getting a baby then I suggest using a sterilite tub at first. If you get a small tank for the baby then it will outgrow it in not too long. If you get a tank big enough for an adult then the snake may or may not feel comfortable in all that space. I used a latching tote for all of my babies and they have been doing well. We picked up a crested gecko and opted to get the enclosure from petco instead of what we saw at repticon. We did get substrate and the digital combo temp/hygrometers at repticon though. Cork bark was a good eal there as well... Although right now petco has cork bark on a great sale online.

And to that point... You don't know what size creature you will be coming home with. I had the choice between a mostly grown rainbow boa or a baby. I opted for the baby. But if I had prepared for the baby and ended up with the larger snake, my setup might not have been great. If you do want a tank to start with, repticon prices a can not beat the $1 a gallon sale that petco is having right now, assuming there is one near you tanks up to 29 gallons are $1 per gallon. Tanks over that are 50% off. The 20g for $20 is a great deal. The 40g breeder for $50 is also a steal. You will have to get a screen top but those are like $10-15 at the store or you can et them a little cheaper at repticon. Just be sure to remember the dimensions of your tank.

[IDvsEGO]

Here is my thread with some more info...

http://www.ssnakess.com/forums/general-discussion/116041-repticon-coming-town-any-tips.html

Obviously your show will have different vendors than mine but I did not see any Russian rat snakes. Only a couple of red tail green tree rat snakes. Tons of cool kings, sand boas, balls, gtp, amazon tree boa, tegus, skinks, iguanas, uros, and tons of geckos... Day, tokay, golden, leopard, Chinese cave, fat tail, leaf tail, mossy tail, gargoyle... I am sure some more.

[Alesha]

Thanks for all the help :) I doubt they’ll have a Russian Rat there but I’m keeping my fingers crossed

[IDvsEGO]

Thanks for all the help :) I doubt they’ll have a Russian Rat there but I’m keeping my fingers crossed

You will definitely have different vendors so there is no telling. Best of luck to you. Even if you don't get anything, it's a fun experience. My wife and kids went and we all had a blast.

[Alesha]

You will definitely have different vendors so there is no telling. Best of luck to you. Even if you don't get anything, it's a fun experience. My wife and kids went and we all had a blast.

Definitely. It will be a bummer if I come home empty handed but this will be my first time going to a reptile show and it will be cool to see something different than your typical Royals and Corns. Really excited to see some venomous species too :P

[IDvsEGO]

Definitely. It will be a bummer if I come home empty handed but this will be my first time going to a reptile show and it will be cool to see something different than your typical Royals and Corns. Really excited to see some venomous species too :P

I don't know how you feel about kings but I saw the greatest variety in kings and balls. I think kings are neat and it was hard to only get 2 at the show prices

[Alesha]

I don't know how you feel about kings but I saw the greatest variety in kings and balls. I think kings are neat and it was hard to only get 2 at the show prices

Who doesn’t love a king? If I had it my way I’d come home with a trunk full haha

[craigafrechette]

You definitely want to have your enclosure set up BEFORE you bring your snake home. It takes time to get your temps and humidity dialed in right.
You also don't want to bring everything home and find out something isn't functioning properly. What if your thermostat isn't working? Or your heat source isn't working?

As a first time keeper, do yourself a HUGE favor and set everything up ahead of time. The excitement of a new pet could very quickly turn into an overly stressful situation if you're not prepared and run into issues.

Lastly, put the animal's needs first. Snakes require time to acclimate to their new enclosures. It's a stressful situation for them being moved around and being in new hands and new environments. All this stress will only be compounded if the enclosure isn't properly setup and the temps are fluctuating, you're constantly at the enclosure making adjustments, constantly checking on your new snake because you're worried, etc...

So, in closing, do yourself and your new pet a favor and set your enclosure up at least a week before you get the snake.

[IDvsEGO]

You definitely want to have your enclosure set up BEFORE you bring your snake home. It takes time to get your temps and humidity dialed in right.
You also don't want to bring everything home and find out something isn't functioning properly. What if your thermostat isn't working? Or your heat source isn't working?

As a first time keeper, do yourself a HUGE favor and set everything up ahead of time. The excitement of a new pet could very quickly turn into an overly stressful situation if you're not prepared and run into issues.

Lastly, put the animal's needs first. Snakes require time to acclimate to their new enclosures. It's a stressful situation for them being moved around and being in new hands and new environments. All this stress will only be compounded if the enclosure isn't properly setup and the temps are fluctuating, you're constantly at the enclosure making adjustments, constantly checking on your new snake because you're worried, etc...

So, in closing, do yourself and your new pet a favor and set your enclosure up at least a week before you get the snake.

some good points in there. I had a lot of my stuff on hand from previous pets so I new it worked. I also have a room that has ambient temps that If you use a tub it doesnt take much time at all to get temps and humidity up so a week might be a bit much, but I understand the point. A tank would take a bit longer. I had a couple of finishing touches to do on my enclosures because I brought home more than I planned but I left the snakes in the take home container until I had it set up to reduce the handling/stress. They didnt stay in there fro days or anything. I have multiple pet stores, a reptile specialty store, and of course plenty of walmarts near me so its easy to get what I need right away, even if it means overpaying. All in all, I cant imagine it was any more stressful than a trip to a 2 day show and the trip back, if I hadnt bought them. Or all the hands on them at the show itself.

[craigafrechette]

some good points in there. I had a lot of my stuff on hand from previous pets so I new it worked. I also have a room that has ambient temps that If you use a tub it doesnt take much time at all to get temps and humidity up so a week might be a bit much, but I understand the point. A tank would take a bit longer. I had a couple of finishing touches to do on my enclosures because I brought home more than I planned but I left the snakes in the take home container until I had it set up to reduce the handling/stress. They didnt stay in there fro days or anything. I have multiple pet stores, a reptile specialty store, and of course plenty of walmarts near me so its easy to get what I need right away, even if it means overpaying. All in all, I cant imagine it was any more stressful than a trip to a 2 day show and the trip back, if I hadnt bought them. Or all the hands on them at the show itself.

As somebody who has been in the snake game a while and has helped a lot of newbies out, I 100000% advocate for having your setup complete prior to bringing a new animal home.
New keepers often get discouraged by the initial struggle to get their husbandry right, their new snake eating, etc...
Being ahead of the game makes life much easier on the keeper and the animal.
Most people do not have the luxury of ambient room temps being very close to the temps required to mimic the natural environment of the snake they are bringing home. So getting your heating equipment up and running, thermostat dialed one, etc... takes time.

As for the animals being stressed after an expo, of course they will be, so why not make it easier on them once they are home??

[IDvsEGO]

As somebody who has been in the snake game a while and has helped a lot of newbies out, I 100000% advocate for having your setup complete prior to bringing a new animal home.
New keepers often get discouraged by the initial struggle to get their husbandry right, their new snake eating, etc...
Being ahead of the game makes life much easier on the keeper and the animal.
Most people do not have the luxury of ambient room temps being very close to the temps required to mimic the natural environment of the snake they are bringing home. So getting your heating equipment up and running, thermostat dialed one, etc... takes time.

As for the animals being stressed after an expo, of course they will be, so why not make it easier on them once they are home??

that all makes sense for sure. at the same time, I don't think I would be at a show and be like "nah, I am not buying that because I don't have an enclosure ready" as long as it was for a snake that I was somewhat experienced with...which is probably on of the variables I was leaving out. We saw a GTP that we considered but I knew it was a different ballgame than what I was used to so I passed.

I still consider myself a newbie because we have only had our first snake for about a year. We got her, then went like 8 months before picking up a couple more, then like 2 more months and getting 3 more. But for the first one we definitely did have everything ready to go and had a wait to get the snake my son wanted and it helped a lot.

[Alesha]

Lots of good points. I doubt I will see a Russian Rat at Repticon anyways, but if I do I’ll really have to think about it and talk to the breeder about wether or not it would be a good idea to bring him home without everything set up. More than anything I️ want to do right by the snake, even if that means leaving him there. However, Russian Rats are super hardy and don’t require high humidity or temperatures, so I️ think as long as I can get the heat right that’s really all I need to worry about in advance. We will see.