I can answer the first question, since I do live close enough to drop by every once in a while. I would say that buying from there is an awesome experience! I haven't bought from there, but many of my friends have. They have a nice selection of morphs. However, I'd rather buy from a small hobby breeder. They have a bunch of other snakes, and I worry If I'm not getting a perfectly healthy one so be careful. I wouldn't worry too much though, the store is kept really clean. There's not much of a difference on gender, but if you are planning on breeding then get a female, they take longer to mature than males.

I never heard of a ball python with no hide, unless It's in a rack system. Sammy would be really stressed out If he had no hide, I provided two and he seems safe and sound. I would offer a hide, especially If he's shipped out to you. I recommend the hides from reptile basics, Sammy loves them!

I HIGHLY recommend looking for a vet that has experience with ball pythons, you never know what might happen, better be safe than sorry. It's ok if you don't take him In for a checkup, but annual checkups are recommended. It took me a while to figure out how many holes Is good for him, through trial and error humidity stays at a good level with 3 rows of 5 holes on the sides, back and front i just put 3 holes. If the humidity is way to high for you then i recommend punching some holes on the lid, not too many though so go at a slow pace until it reaches a nice level. There are many different sizes of rats/mice, when Sammy was with his breeder he ate fuzzy rats, but now he eats rat pups. I buy mine from my local pet store for $2.29, that's considered expensive for a rat pup. I have a local rat breeder but they barely open and when they do i cant pass by, they sell rat pups for $1.25. Now, that's live, but if you want to feed frozen depending on size and quantity it can go anywhere from 15-60 dollar. (they come in packs and bring a lot of frozen rats/mice)

I hope I answered your questions, good luck!