1) I'd say get one that is at least 2 months old. That was the estimated age of my ball python when I got him.

2) I have no idea.

3) You might want to provide babies with a few extra hides to feel secure, but that's up to you.

4) Get females. You want more females than males, and if you have a bunch of normal females, you can later buy some really nice morph males, and breed them to your females when they're old enough. You'll have to wait for the females to put on at least 1500 grams before you want to breed them. As for getting het's versus normal's..I can't really go over the pro's and con's of that one, I'll let one of the breeders do it.

5) Read reviews, check the Board of Inquiry on Fauna.

Just my opinion, but that should help a bit