Long time lurker, first time poster. Hello!

Anyway, I'll cut to the chase. I'm getting my first ball python in a couple of months (taking my time to research as much as I can and get my terrarium/supplies all set up, get my temps and humidity right, etc.) and I can't seem to find any answers to a couple of questions that I have been looking for the past couple of nights. I've read through several FAQs and care sheets (including those found on this site).

1) Is a UTH too much to combine with a lamp on the warm side of the enclosure? On one hand I feel like a UTH under the hide would essentially "cook" the snake as their hide is enclosed and the temps would be much warmer inside. But then if I don't have it, does the lamp provide enough heat to "warm" the hide from the exterior?

2) Are there bulbs that you can change the output on? I ask this because in my home, the temperatures change dramatically. In my bedroom (where the snake will be housed) we get the sun beating on this side of the house in the morning and it gets very warm very fast as the sun rises. However once the air is turned on to cool the house during the day, due to the placement of the vents, the bedroom is a staggering 5-10 degrees colder than the rest of the house. Basically, my bedroom fluctuates ~20º throughout the day between 60-80ºF. Is there an easy way to maintain a constant temperature in the enclosure? Or will it not matter once the lamps are going inside the tank. I also ask this because I don't want to make several trips to the store or buy 5 different bulbs of different wattages until I can pinpoint that perfect temperature and have to return the rest or something. So I'm looking for advice on that too.

3) Do I measure the ambient air temperature, or the temperature of the surfaces in the enclosure? What are your recommendations for thermometer setups? I've seen people using a thermometer/hygrometer combos on both sides of the tank, both flavors of digital and analog, and some opting to avoid thermometers in general and using infrared laser-pointer thermometers (which I think only measure temperatures on the surface at which it's pointed, and not the air).

Sorry for the questions, but I'm getting mixed answers from all sorts of websites and it's making me stress out a little bit because I'm trying to make everything as perfect as possible and don't want to screw anything up. At least I'm being cautious and not jumping into this blind though!

Thanks guys. I'm going to bed and hoping to read some replies in the morning.