Hi!
Welcome to the forum
Since you got him on Sunday, it is recommended you leave your snake alone for at least a week before handling or feeding him. This allows him to settle down and adjust to the new environment.
If he is really picky about not taking his food, do not handle him at all until he has eaten at least 3 consecutive meals. Handling can be quite stressful for a new snake.
Once you have the proper set up/husbandry and he still doesn't eat f/t, try offering him a live feeder.
Live can often jump start a feeding response. And feed in his enclosure. He will not become more aggressive. Moving him to a separate feeding cage is more stressful and actually increases your chance of getting bitten.
How much does your snake weigh? Length doesn't mean much to us. Small snakes can be long and older snakes can be short. Weight in grams gives us a better understanding on his growth and size. I'm going to assume he's fairly young. Try blocking out the sides and back of the enclosure with dark paper or background wallpaper. This will make the enclosure feel more secure to him.
Try reading up on the care sheets here.
But here's a basic break down:
Hot side of your enclosure should be 88-91 degrees. And the cool side should be around 80.
No part of the enclosure should be under 75. Anything below 75 can give your snake a respiratory infection.
Hooking up your heating pad to a thermoSTAT will help regulate the hot spot to the proper temp safely
And when using a heating pad, a thermostat is needed. You can burn your snake otherwise.
You don't need special lighting for your snake unless your ambient temps are too low.
Your humidity should be around 60% and 70% during a shed. You have a heat lamp. Lamps are notorious for drying out the enclosure and sucking up humidity. If you could get your ambient temps up above 75, you wouldn't need the lamp.
Do you know what your humidity levels are at now?
We can offer tips on how to maintain the proper humidity.
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