Hello, and welcome to the site! My ball did the same thing as yours when I first got him. Went in his hide once then came right back out and spent most of his time exploring his new home. I also laughed when I saw him curled up on top of his hide, not in it! After a while, he calmed down and uses his hides everyday now. My guy's not as young as yours though.

The rule I've heard on soaking is that if it feels too warm to you, it's definitely too warm for your snake. So maybe I'd say lukewarm, but someone else may be able to offer more advice on this, I've never done it.

Your water bowl should be big enough for him to soak in. Not too deep though, he should be able to keep his head out of the water.

You could use a humid hide when your bp is ready to go into shed. He'll need more humidity then.

Everyone has different opinions about substrate, there really is no right answer. I used bark a while back, but I didn't really like it. It looks nice, but I was worried about him swallowing some when eating, and I don't think it was easy to keep clean. I've used newspaper which I like because it's very easy to see when it needs cleaning, and easy to change. Simply throw away and get a clean one. Now I'm using "Lizard Liner" reptile carpet. I just switched and I really like it so far, and it looks nicer than the newspaper.

We're happy to have you, I bet your baby is so cute! You should post pictures!!