I'm fairly new to blender but I've write some python to import some old models from triangle data with UV texture images. Some of the models have more than mesh so each mesh has its own UV texture.
In blender would I create one object per mesh or create 2 meshes under one object (and if the latter - how is that done in python?)
Using one object for each mesh will simplify things for you, I think. Although it is possible to have everything in one object and still use different materials, and use different UV maps, this will probably be more trouble than it's worth, especially if you're interested in using Cycles.
Note: It is possible to put "more than one" mesh in an object in Blender, but it's still treated as one mesh, they just aren't necessarily attached to each other. The "Separate > By loose parts" tool that CoDEmanX suggests takes each contiguous set of vertices and puts them each in their own object. It's convenient if you already have several things in one object that you want to be separate.
One mesh in blender can have multiple materials, so you can join your input meshes into one for blender. Simply assign a separate material for each input mesh.
Alternatively, it sounds like it would be useful for you to import them all as separate objects and then parent one to all the others. That way, the parent will behave as if all of the smaller objects were one object.
