Hi. I recently bought my first Ball Python around 5 days ago, and I have so many questions!

He is a v pretty 5 month old banana pastel and I've been worrying myself sick about pandering to his every need to the point where I think my constant checking might be stressing him out more than anything else

He is housed in a small plastic tub which is covered with a towel and at the moment and a small cardboard box on top of that too (obviously with air holes and ventilation underneath) to keep his temperatures up as my bedroom is quite chilly as it comes up to winter in England. His hot side is hitting around 85-87 and his cooler side hitting around 78 or so. He is in the dark most of the time due to the box over him. His source of heat is two heat pads (one underneath on the hot side, one on top on the cool side, controlled by a thermostat). There is a temperature drop of a few degrees at night. He has 1 hide and 1 waterbowl.

My worry is that I've messed some stuff up and stressed him out He is quite active for a couple of hours a night in his tub, but hides most of the time, which I've heard is a good sign. However, I couldn't get his temperatures right for the first two days of him being here, with the ambient temperature falling to the low 70s which I know is bad but I righted it as soon as possible. I have handled him a couple of times since him coming home which the breeder said was ok and he has unballed and explored a little despite being a bit flinchy if my housemates made sudden movements around him. Unfortunatley when I attempted to feed him on a thawed mouse last night it was unsuccessful. I reckon this might be because he had an audience watching and all the lights on, he seemed to go into feeding/strike mode but missed when he tried to strike then wouldn't try again and went straight back into his hide. I sent everyone out of the room and tried for another 20 mins to get him to eat but to no avail. He appeared to be "yawning" when i tried feeding him too (showing interest in food?).

My questions are:
Have I over handled him and might the stress from the earlier low temperatures be the reason for him not eating?
Are his temperatures high enough now?
How long should I wait before attempting to feed him again?
Is keeping a snug fitting cardboard box (with ventilation) over the tub ok for the winter months to keep the heat up ok?


I'm so stressed trying to keep his needs met, had no idea that it would affect me so much mentally but honestly I just hate the thought of him getting ill or "upset" because of something i've done Haven't been to uni for days because of checking on his temps and visiting the breeder to ask questions!!

CAn you guys help me? Thank you so so much!!