Late last evening our family brought home our new pet, Mr Cuddles the ball python. The children named him that because he was very friendly towards them, and curled up in their hands and sat there.

This is the first time I've taken care of snakes since boy scout camp some 25ish years ago. I purchased the setup as depicted in the picture I attached. Having read the guide here, it appears I have erred in some of my purchases.

I could use some help getting what we will need to give our new friend a long happy life. Right now he is in a 40 gallon tank, 36x18x16. The substrate is plantation soil (made from compressed coconut fibers). The cylinder thing is a cleaned out oatmeal container, I figured he could use another place to hide until I could get to the store. He also seemed to enjoy going into our shirts and such, so we put an old towel in their for him to slither in and out of. I actually have another overhead lamp, but I don't have a bulb for it right now, so it isn't on the tank. I read about humidity loss, so I have a towel draped over about 70% of the top, and since it is night time, I have the heat light turned off. I hope this is OK.

Thanks in advance for advice and help getting us sorted out straight.