Convincing my wife to live with a snake

In my first two posts you could read some details about the times before having my first in captivity bred snake. So let’s move forward … where things get more serious. I don’t mean the situation was not serious sometimes in the past 😉 even too serious 😂

After finishing my studies I got married. Getting married means also bringing a little bit more of permanency in my life. Being in an apartment that you know you will stay for a little bit longer time raised back an idea having a snake. Until then I was only having aquariums. I was even breeding Guppy fish. But no snakes (if we don’t count that Natrix for a month).

So, I shared the idea of getting a snake with my wife. I have to tell you “on the first ball” she almost repeated most of the content of my father’s speeches I told you about last time … It looked like she knew the same doctors, that can help me 🙂 … Anyway I didn’t give up on the idea! I was testing her attitude of snakes from time to time … it wasn’t changing much until we went to see an Erotic show, where one of the ladies performed with a nice Ball Python. After the performance, I have been asking her only about the snake and my wife made her very first contact with her (I mean with the snake 😉). Yes it was she. A female ball python. The snake was completely calm and really used to be handled. I believe it was trained for that kind of dance performances for many times and getting into contact with a lot of people even in a loud environment didn’t cause her much stress or at least she didn’t show she was stressed.

On the way home I asked my wife again whether we could have that kind of snake in our apartment. This time she only asked me something like … “Are you crazy? That big snake … no way! … I wouldn’t say if it was smaller but, that big … no no no!” (By the way our first apartment was the ground floor of her parents house.)
I felt it in my veins … she is ready to negotiate but, referring to the above mentioned issue I had a feeling I will have to convince also my mother-in-law and the rest of the family into that! 😁 The following days I raised that question for some more times just to see whether my wife “changed” her mind. She didn’t and I shared the idea with my mother-in-law too (somehow she is the boss in that house). Have to tell you she didn’t have the same speech as my father or my wife. 🤔
Soon I start visiting pet shops to search for a baby ball python.

On 7th of November 2007 I found it. (the photo above is exactly the moment when I choosed her).

Later I organized our regular shopping in a way that we “accidentally” ended in that shop where they had a small nice female ball python (for the one I already agreed with the shop I will take it). I asked my wife what does she think about that snake, how would it look like to have it and whether she will have much against it. As the snake was not so big and she could still remember the one from that show, how calm and friendly she was … she agreed we can talk about that. But, women like women she wanted to get something as a win-win trade … she proposed if I will get snake, she gets a drying machine. DEAL!!! Snake is going to be! 💪😜🐍

I asked in the shop whether I can put some down payment and let the snake stay in the shop for another month, as I need to prepare the housing for her. They agreed.
I also asked them about the recommendations how to make a good setup of the terrarium for ball python and they didn’t give me much useful advises. I also didn’t know by that time any snake keeper to ask him and there were no Facebook groups (we are talking about the year 2007) to ask that kind of questions. I was more or less on my own. But I did have an option… I searched on the internet for the information and more or less all of the search results were pointing in the same direction: Books on Amazon. So I ordered my first books from Amazon.

Waiting for the books, I took care about the custom-built cabinet (about this was my wife also excited). On top of the cabinet built-in terrarium with sliding doors, under the terrarium nice place for our aquarium, and under the aquarium two drawers and at the bottom two closed cabinets for her stuff.
After the design for the wardrobe/cabinet was finished I went to the glass workshop to order custom-made glass tank with side sliding doors, and ventilation opening at the back.

By the time the cabinet and the glass terrarium was finished my books also arrived, so I could finalize my setup. I read both of the books, to get better idea about the substrate to be used, hides, water bowl, heating, lightning etc. I purchased most of the things from Exo Terra. To be honest there was not much to choose at that time, at least in my country. I selected Forest Bark for a substrate, Heat wave rock for heating and Repti Glo 2.0 tube for light, a water dish and hide-out … all Exo Terra 😉 I added one or two real green plants, some wooden branches and that was more or less it.

So, the terrarium was ready to bring the new “family member” into the house!

More about the happenings when the snake actually moved in my next post … soon.

Thanks for reading and I hope to see you back soon. Keep checking 😉

TJ