Is this unfair to the snake?

Hi all,

I’ve been considering getting a ball python for a few months now, and doing as much research as I can. I’m confident I can give it proper living conditions (heat, humidity, hides, space, diet, etc). I’ve got enough money squirreled away for emergency vet trips as well as regular checkups, and there’s a competent vet in the area. I know how long these animals can live and am prepared to take care of it for the duration of its life. I’m not going to have a meltdown and get rid of the animal if it bites me. I’m not going to get bored with it when it doesn’t want to play fetch or jump through hoops or do much beyond chill and hide during the day. I don’t want to take it to the local Starbucks or use it to freak out/impress friends. I like snakes for the snake-y things they bring to the table, and not just because it seems cheaper than getting a dog. I want to keep it in a way that will let the animal live a healthy, contented life.

Here’s my hesitation. I’m currently right in the middle of undergrad studies going into my third year. I typically travel home in December. I typically leave town for a week or two in the summer. When I graduate, the plan has been to spend a year or so teaching abroad. So, I’m not traveling all the time, but I’m not super stable either. For most of those things, I would probably be able to find a neighbor or roommate willing to petsit, but that involves leaving someone who doesn’t necessarily know a lot watching my animal. In other cases, it’s going to mean transporting the animal either along with me to a new location or full days car ride to drop it off with my parents (the designated babysitters) who would have more familiarity, and are willing to learn, but still don’t have any reptile experience (and mom’s not all that crazy about snakes anyways). Planned traveling aside, life happens and I will doubtless be moving around a fair bit for the next 5-6 years. Ball pythons are small enough they’re not restricted anywhere I know of (though they could give a landlord pause) and not local anywhere in the US so you don’t need special permits for them. Any long term moves abroad that are likely would allow me to move it with me (not huge, not endangered, not on any restricted lists that I’ve been able to find), but that’s a BIG trip for any pet. Medium trips are where my parents would come in as designated temporary caretakers, assuming no one who popped up with actual reptile experience could be found.

I know these snakes are relatively hardy. But that seems like (even with efforts to minimize it, and if nothing unexpected pops up) a lot of moving and a lot of stress on the animal. And unlike a dog or cat, there’s about a zero percent chance the snake sees a car ride as a fun adventure- to say nothing of a longer distance shipping experience. So my question, which is in the title, is to ask whether this is just flat out unfair to the animal and one of those things I should really be putting off until I’m in a more stable place in my life. Does anyone else have experience with getting a snake (and it would definitely just be the one) and having to move around? Strong opinions about it being a bad idea? Maybe opinions about it being a good one?

Depending on the day I’ve been jumping between these being totally manageable obstacles or proof that I’d be a horrible keeper who would probably manage to kill the snake from stress or leaving it with someone unqualified. And really, it could go either way and kind of feels like one of those things where you do it and luck is what determines whether you get to look back on it as a good decision or a horrible one. I’d just like to check in with some people who a) actually have snakes b) aren’t other college students who don’t really have a lot of experience to go on and have a well-established tendency to make dumb pet decisions and c) might have done this song and dance already.

What do you think?