thanks everyone for the quick replies and the welcome! i am going to try to cover everything in my response. hopefully i wont have anything i miss...
what i missed last time:
i have been using the misting method for humidity just for cost reasons, but it is doing a fair job at keeping the tank somewhere between 45-55 in humidity depeneding on how often i mist. i mist with hot water (trick i learned i think from another post here) on a towel that is over the cool side (with no lamp) and on a few pieces of fake moss that are spread throughout the tank. i usually have to mist the hot side twice a day and the cool side once a day.
i also have been using a temp gun until i found a thermometer i liked (which i now have 2 probe thermometers and one stick on the tank thermometer to measure how hot it gets near the top, since he has his climbing log). i was having trouble at first keeping good temps at night when the lamp was turned off, but i have found that keeping a blanket over the cool half of his tank helps. i would cover the whole thing, but i am usually not awake when the timer turns on his lamp, and i worry about fires.
more about heat control:
OsirisRa32 (or anyone), i am having the hardest time finding a thermometer that regulates the temp of the heater. where should i look? how much are they? are there any "bad brands"?
bedding:
sorry, i typed this late at night. it was aspen, not alpine. dont know what i was thinking. and it is the bark that was sold to me in the pet store. he wanted me to use all bark, but i wasnt comfortable with it, so i just used some to add a different texture and make it feel more natural.
hides:
i now have 2 hides. they are not identical, but they will be as soon as he moves up to his next size hide. he really really loves his log hide, so i did not want to take it from him just yet. but i also didnt want to get 2 with what yall said about mold. im also not sure how exactly i am going to fit 2 idential hides any bigger in my current tank, and he will be in this big of a tank long after he needs a bigger hide. guess we will cross that bridge when we get there.
as far as terra cotta pots, since i dont have something that is really regulating humidity (like a humidifier or something) i am nervous about using them. hopefully by the time he is ready for a new shelter, i will have something better for humidity and i can branch out. i have also heard a LOT of good things about those cheap black hides online.
feeding/holding/overall temperment:
i am going to try to feed him today (its been one week). we will see how it goes. i did not hold him yesterday at all. yesterday was also the first day he was not as active at night. i dont know if that is because he has explored his new home enough or if he was mad that i didnt take him out. the pet store owner told me he is the more social out of the two baby bps in the store, and he really does seem to enjoy exploring and crawling up and down my arms (and trying to escape now into the floor lol). if he eats, i will hold him monday night. i will test his temperment without being held and see if it stresses him out more to come out or not come out to decide if i will hold him the day before a feeding or not.
i will keep yall posted on how this feeding attempt goes and if he has really started to calm down or was just pouting since he wasnt being held!
and a special thanks to The Serpent Merchant for your really thorough and helpful reply. the links were especially helpful!