What are the essentials?

[obsidianembrace]

Hey everyone!

I got a male pastel BP at a Repticon yesterday. I'm really excited about him! I have been looking into them for a couple months out of interest but the actual buy was an impulse. So I have a general idea but I haven't done extremely detailed research. I want to do everything he needs; I tend to spoil my pets with the best!

I already had a ten gallon tank, XS UTH, S UTH, dish, hide, digital therm/hyg with a probe, and plants.

Questions:

So right now he's on paper towels. I know I need to get a thermostat for the UTH, that's on the top of my list. Is there a specific brand/model that's best? Also I was reading about a timer (?) power strip that has 4 always on outlets, 2 day, and 2 night. That sounds like it would be very useful! Does anyone know what exactly that was?

The breeder said he was last fed on 4/5 and he's been being fed live hoppers. Even in talking to different vendors, I got conflicting advice on how often to feed. I've heard 10-14 days and 7-10 days and someone on here even said every 4 days! I can weigh and measure him in the next couple of days to help you give me the best advice on feeding practices. I am wanting to switch to frozen food for convenience but if there are major health benefits to feeding live, I would definitely do that for him. Since he was last fed over two weeks ago should I try offering him food now or give him another few days to settle in? I only got him yesterday, but I don't want him to be unable to settle in because he's hungry!

I'm think I'm going to have a warm hide and cool hide of course but I want to provide a humid hide as well. I live in Utah where it is quite dry so I would like to offer humidity without everything just being wet. Would it be a good idea to combine the humid hide with the warm hide? Or would he prefer a warm dry place? If misting is a better option that is doable as well.

The set-up he's in right now is very basic: paper towels, one UTH (I know he needs more, I'm going be monitoring temps and deciding if I should get a CHE as well), large water dish, plants, a hide, and some cardboard tubes. So far the tubes are his favorite, he fits perfectly. Is this the bare essentials for now? I only have to wait other week and then I can easily pick up everything else he needs.

Most breeders I talked to seemed very into the genetics side of things and it seemed like they didn't always pay a ton of attention to the actual behavior of the animal. So my questions about that kind of went unanswered... but their snakes were beautiful at least! The one I got is not head-shy and seems calm to me. But if anyone could give me a short run-down on normal BP behavior, I would appreciate it!

--

This post might have been a little scattered but I hope you could pick out the questions! I really appreciate any advice you guys can give

-Rebecca