Wow, I'm pleasently supprised by such a large response. Thank you jglass38, elevatethis, xdeus, Johar, JLC, kavmon, MedusasOwl, and frankykeno for your very warm welcome, kind words, and good advice. I love how useful forums are to learn, and this one seems very, very useful as well as frendly. I've seen some that were hostile, so I was a little cautious. Plus I've read some people's frustrations over people who get snakes without first researching (and realized I was guilty here...so I didn't know how the reaction would be to my post). Thanks for cutting me some slack ! Ok, let's see. In a year or so I will see if I'm satisfied with just one snake or if I want more snakes...and look into a possible rack (good advice). I havn't seen any black specs, but due to your good suggestions, I've changed the aspen in the new home to paper towels for now. 2-3 weeks without holding him/her seems long, but good point 20-30 years is enough time to make up for it! So I will take your advice and give him some space...thanks! Can I use flexwatt with rubbermaid? Does a thermostat work with human heating pads? or should I just get the flexwatt. I'm not sure how much he/she ways, lenght, or girth. Petco didn't seem to have a good idea on how old they were when I bought him/her. I'd say my snake is a little over a foot to a foot and a half. Petco said they were feeding him/her a f/t fuzzie every tuesday. I'm not all sure if I'm doing the f/t correctly...but I've read some posts here to help out...and any other advice is welcomed. The fuzzies do look a little small for him/her, but not sure if an adult mice would be right. A local pet store (appears to be the best one in my city) told me to feed him two fuzzies. I'll try once a week, alternating f/t and live. Thanks again for everything! I feel truely blessed to find this place!!