Hydrofarm Thermostat with a tub?

I figured for the UTH I'd just use Zoomed I think it is. The type that petco and petsmart has in stores.

So if the JC t-stat and the Hydrofarm aren't much different, I might as well go with the hydrofarm since it's $40 cheaper.

Yes the the plastic sheet likely would do as long as it isn't too stinky or really thin. Hydrofarms are ok same for Johnson's and rancos the latter are a bit more accurate. (+/-2ºF on the probe) they all can be set up to work. It often takes a bit of tinkering to get things exactly right. If you get the go ahead, you can show your dad some true responsibility and make a really good start by setting up your enclosure with heat and t-stat substrate water bowl everything but a snake. Often it takes a week to stabilize and trouble shoot to get things right. Do your future snake a favour and take that time before you bring it home so that you are not fumbling around trying to get it right and causing the poor thing more stress by fussing with everything and temperature variations while you make adjustments.

Don't worry. :3 I did that with one of my beardies(the other was a surprise rescue)and planned to do that with the snake so I could truly leave it alone for a week besides water changes every couple days and checking temp/humidity.
I like to have everything set up before I get the actual animal.