Hello everyone. First time BP owner, and glad to have stumbled upon this forum! I got my little guy off of craigs list from a kid who said he bought it from PetCo a month earlier. At the time, he said that the pet shop guy told him that the little guy was about 3-5 months old. I've heard all the warnings to stay away from main stream pet stores, etc, but it's really the only information I have to go off of.

Anyway, I was just wondering how much/often I should be feeding him about now. He's about 1.5 - 2 feet long, but not very think girth-wise. The kid said he was feeding him 2 mice, twice a week, but recently went to 3 in one sitting. That sounds a bit much and I'm thinking I should be doing a small rat every 10 days or so.

It seems that the rule of thumb is to feed him something slightly larger than the girth on the thickest part of his body, which is why I'm thinking 1 small rat, but I havent actually seen a small feeder rat before so I'm not too certain yet. I think the adult mouse is just about the size of the girth of his body.

Also, I have the reptitherm UTH unit without a thermostat for now (arriving Tuesday from Amazon prime). Is it safe to let it run 24/7 without a thermostat for a few days? I've heard a few horror stories so I'm a bit concerned. Also, my thermometer and the thing that gauges the humidity is coming in on Tuesday too.

One last question! I only have a somewhat "too large" hide for him right now, and it's over the heating pad. I've learned that 2 hides, one on each side of the temp gradient, is ideal, but for the time being, should I generally keep it over the UTH or the opposite?

Basically all my stuff is coming in on Tuesday, so I need to hold the little guy over for a few days with what I have. A tiny UTH, basking light, large hide, large water bowl, and a little log for him to slither around. 20 GAL tank, aspen bedding (planning on switching to indented kraft). Mmm.. and that's about it. I'm in Los Angeles, and it's been about 87-90 all day today in my room... or so says the dinky PetCo thermometer in the tank. I havent turned any of his heating sources throughout today, but it's getting a bit cooler now so I just switched on the UTH.

Whoops that came out a lot longer than I intended! I would appreciate any feedback or tips. Thanks!