Question about my first ball.

[karb0n13]

(Please excuse this wall of text, and may your chosen deity bless you if you wade your way through it all. The question is at the bottom BTW.)

I am not new to raising and caring for reptiles but this is my first snake. I want to take care of 'Monty' the very best that I can. I started wanting a ball python in the 4th grade and now 20 years later my wife got me one as a gift.
Currently Monty is approx 24" long very inquisitive and eager to climb into my hand and be handled. This is amazing to me as I have has him for only about 10 days. He (or she) ate for me only 5 days after arriving in the house as well.
I have him (or her) housed in a 20 gal glass vivarium with a Fluker's heat mat mounted underneath and a Hydrofarm Digital Thermostat to control its temperature. I have covered about 90% of the top screen with plexiglass to retain moisture and some heat. For the floor I have a liner carpet with about 1cm of shredded aspen over it on the warm side to almost 3cm deep on the cool side.
I am attempting to keep humidity between 40-60% which would be impossible if it weren't for the plexiglass cover. I have my thermostat probe under the substrate on the warm side set at 89°F (31.6°C) and it goes up and down from 86°-90° (30°-32.2°). The cool side stays on average 4-6°F cooler.
The only problem I am having is the ambient air temp in the tank is 70-75°F (21-24°C). I am concerned as to whether or not this is ok if the floor of the tank is kept at a consistent and comfortable temperature.
I'd love to hear any comments or constructive criticism about my setup or care.
Here are some pics of Monty and his home:

[llovelace]

to BP.net

I would bump up the hot side temp to 92*, have 2 hides 1 cool side 1 hot side.

check out our husbandry forum for more tips & ideas

[karb0n13]

@llovelace
Thank you for the advice. I'll bump up the temp a couple degrees and add another hide, on a side note, about how big should the soaking dish be?
As you may be able to see in my tank pic the orange soaking dish is fairly large and completely dominates the cool side of the tank.

[llovelace]

place a smaller dish in the middle of tank, BP's usually don't soak, unless they have mites or are trying to cool off.