Holy cow I would be livid at that seller! I wonder if he sent your snake and heat tape to someone who ordered the two normals you received?

When you said "Wal-Mart heat packs", did you mean the hand warmers? Because they can get way too hot and burn your snake. The more access to oxygen they have the hotter they run. If that's all that's available, wrap them in a hand towel or t-shirt or something so those babies can't touch it directly.

They do need hides. Don't laugh - my home-based business does a lot of shipping so I have stacks of USPS flat-rate boxes sitting around. The small flat-rate boxes work nicely as disposable hides, and they're free at the post office. Just don't use tape on them! I completely rip off the piece with the sticky adhesive (no tape in the tub!), the piece it would normally stick to extends the "roof", and I cut a hole in the larger flat side that sits on the heat so the snake isn't blocked from the warmth.