beginner setup question

Thanks guys you have all been quite helpful, I appreciate your advice.

Ok, hides, is it better if their made of heavier material, rather than a lightweight plastic? Has anyone's snakes shown a preference? I saw a shallow terra cotta pot with a hole chipped into it on one website.... Do I need to smooth the sides down where I cut? Or would this just be a good spot for them to rub on to shed?

As far as the dial therm and coco dirt, I don't approve either, these are totally temporary options, I plan to use newspaper and get acurites when I can. (Feel free to offer a better suggestion if you have one!) Should I not use the coco? Or would it be beneficial for them to increase the humidity right now? It's free, it's this or newspaper for the next couple weeks till their tub home is ready. I'd like to try aspen, but I'm gonna have to shop around for the best deal, and there is WAY too much else that is more important for me to be getting right now.

As far as the cardboard divider, you don't think they will just push that down?

It's been a week since I got them, so I'll try feeding them tonight. I'll let you know how that goes.....

Thanks again to those who have posted advice! I need it!

They both ate last night no problem. Sighted the rat almost immediately and struck with no hesitations. Nice! I noticed a lot of you guys feed f/t rats to your guys. Is this because it's easier, one post said it's for the snakes safety? I assume you never leave a live rat with a bp unattended.... I've seen what rats can chew through, lol. Do you guys have problems with snakes taking a f/t when their used to live? I wouldn't mind having some frozen, sometimes rat breeding come be unpredictable....

I also found a local pet store that said they can sex my snakes for me, I don't trust any info from the guy I got them from. Any questions I should have for the pet store lady? She seems to be more informed than the chain stores I've been in, she's the owner.... I'm gonna have her weigh and measure them too.

Well, you can always test the divider. I don't think they would purposefully push it down. Just make sure it is in there snugly.

Well good to hear they both ate! I feed f/t just because I really don't like keeping live feeders around. I have done it before and it is just way more work than I need. keeping them in the freezer just works much better :P No maintenance. Also, the nice thing about f/t is (well at least for me) I can just drop a thawed mouse/rat in the tub and leave. I don't need to dangle or anything and I know there is no risk of the rodent coming back to live and mauling my snake. I have gone between live and f/t, but then again, my snakes are not picky at all. It really depends on the snake. Some can switch back and forth no problem, some can't.

Personally, I wouldn't go to a pet store to get anything health related done with my animals. Going to a pet store with one of your animals means other possibly sick animals in the store could transfer their illness (or mites!) onto your snakes. That is no picnic. If you do go, make sure you are absolutely certain that she knows exactly what she is doing (if she is probing or popping). If she is just guessing she could injure your animals.

Length isn't really a useful measurement and it is very hard to get an accurate measurement. I just weigh my animals regularly to get an idea of how much weight they are gaining. If they are gaining, all is good.

If I'm not going to a pet store to get them sexed, I need to go to a vet? Is it easy to find a vet who does snakes? And how much more will that cost? And wouldn't that put the snakes at similar risks, lots of sick animals at the vet for sure! The pet store lady (well, her name is Rachel) isn't gonna charge me. And she'll said she'll be probing. I've asked around, had one other pet store tell me to go talk to her (guess I was asking too many questions they couldn't answer... lol) and she talks about animals like she knows her stuff. Didn't have a lot of time with her, gotta call and set up an appointment to have her do the snakes.

Divider is in place and hasn't been disturbed at all yet.... I put coco in, made sure to squeeze it out really well so it's not too wet.

What kind of a scale should I look for to weight them myself?

It really is up to you. I am just saying that I personally wouldn't take them to a petstore. If you trust the pet store has healthy animals and the woman probing them knows what she is doing than go for it.

Any kind of kitchen sclae works. Just make sure the max is something over 3,000gs and it has a tare feature. You can find them at any big box store. Target, walmart, etc.