Just a couple of questions from someone new to snakes!

[Jaded815]

I got my first snake a week ago and I just have a couple of questions, I want to give her the best life possible! At the pet store I was told that she'll live off of a diet of 1 feeder fish every 4-5 days. Then when I did some research online I learned that feeder fish don't provide adequate nutrition, and that tuffies contain something that can be harmful to garters. So today I bought her a platy to eat, I read that platies and guppies are better then tuffies and gold fish, but getting her to eat pinkies would be ideal. I don't know if she's big enough to eat a pinky yet, but they don't seem any bigger then the fish she's eaten.

How do I go about trying to convert her onto pinkies? Is live the best or should I do frozen? And how often should I feed her?

How often should I handle her, I want to make sure she's well handled and friendly, but I don't want to stress her by handling her too much! So far she's been pretty friendly, a little nervous when I first pick her up, but she settles down quickly, and hasn't tried to bite yet!

I'm also little worried about my girl, she tends to hide under the substrate and doesn't come out much. She hasn't eaten since Tuesday even though I gave her fish yesterday. I read that garters are usually very active, but she's not, I'm wondering if her tank is too cold. at the petstore they told me the tank only needed to be heated to around 70-72 degrees, but that really seems too cold to me, should it be warmer? I'll go get a new heat lamp and stuff tomorrow...

Also she looks like she's lost a little color, maybe she's going to shed soon? Her eyes are still clear though... She's my first snake, I want to do it right! Thanks for all of the help!