This is my first post so I figure I'll do just one long one instead of a bunch of smaller ones... I have a few questions about the care of my female BP, Jasmine. I bought her from a reputable local petstore in November and they told me she was born in April so she was approx. 6-7 months old. Everything has been going good since then. I've read through this site and added to her setup what I found was needed as my finance's (and fiance) have allowed...
My setup for her is: 20gallon Long glass aquarium, screen top (I have covered about 3/4 of it with aluminum foil, 1 layer on each side of the screen secured with electrical tape), as far as heating goes I have a CHE and a UTH positioned on one side of the tank, both controlled by the same rheostat. I usually only have to turn it up to just past low to get temp's of 90-94 hot side (inside the hide) and 80-82 ambient temps [the digital thermom/hygrom unit i got from walmart (with no probe) is setup on the cool side and the digital thermom probe (separate unit) is stuck up inside the warm side hide]. Both hides are the same, medium black plastic igloo looking ones. the water dish i got was the largest rock-ish looking one at the store because my house is terribly dry in the winter, and i'm using bed-a-beast as my substrate. i also have a rock i got from the pet store (cleaned w/bleach, rinsed thoroughly, and air-dried before i put it in and whenever i clean the tank), to assist with sheds... i cleaned everything before i put it in with her and i'm on a once a month, take everything out, bleach it, change the bedding schedule... with spot cleaning as needed.
So how does that sound? I keep looking at Wal-Mart, Home Depot, Target, etc... for a better dig. thermom/hygrom w/a probe, but being winter in central New York I don't think they have very much demand for them...
My feeding schedule for her currently is 1 or 2 mice about every 5-7 days. 1 or 2 depends on where I go to get them and the size they give me... Soon I want to move her to small rats and when i am making the transition to that i will change her to F/T, i tried last week but after letting the frozen mouse thaw in the water i had microwaved for 3 minutes i pulled it out and it's entrails were hanging out. there must have been an injury prior to freezing cause i can't see where soaking in warm water would cut it's stomach open... but i'll use cooler water and let it soak for less time tomorrow.
I feel pretty confident about my current setup, but any suggestions would be greatly appreciated. The question I had was about feeding time... whenever she eats it's always an event in my home. my daughter and i sit down on the bed in front of her tank and watch her... this past monday though, after she had ate the first live mouse we were watching her, standing up, maybe 8-10inches at most away from her tank, and she was staring at us. when i moved she acted kind of startled and jumped a little. the week prior to that i fed her one, waited like 10-15minutes, then gave her another mouse... (they were smaller) i was thinking that since she was fed twice last week and she was staring at us through her aquarium was she sensing our heat signature, she was in the "S" position while staring... I comprehend that they sense heat w/the pit's above their mouth (below too maybe?!?) but what i'm not understanding is how she senses it... is it like an infrared view similar to what we see on TV when a police helicopter is picking up the heat signature on a suspect running after a car chase? or what...

sorry for the long post, work is a little slow today... and thanks.