Thank you Wolf, Dave and Craig for the warm welcome! I know definitely have that brand-new energy that can be annoying to some who have been in hobbies for a long time so thanks for saying hello.

Both snakes had only been fed live... we wanted to try f/t and switching Sal from large mice to small rats.. They told us to be prepared for them not to eat and that we may need to feed live, but both boys ate right away! So proud of them Davenport is on small mice and Sal will now be eating small rats! Woohoo. Hopefully they will continue to eat well.

Question - Is it ill advised to offer my young snake the smallest rats I can find? I have heard they are nutritionally superior and snakes should be switched to rats as soon as possible, but wasn't sure if they needed mice for awhile due to digestion differences..

Here are some photos of them eating successfully. Very happy with this as Sal has only been home for 3 days and Davenport got here yesterday.

I have painted the back and sides of Davenports tank black (on the outside, with nontoxic paint) as is my preference, and heard it was good for the snakes to feel secure as well. He's in a 20 gallon long with hot and cold sides, water bowls on both sides and some other things to climb on/hide in as he has seemed to enjoy exploring so far.