Lighting/Heating Issue

[jimbob69]

Hello,
I am a new user here on the ball-pythons.net website and now the proud owner of my very own ball python. I lurked these forums for about a week before creating my account, learning all I could about these beautiful and intriguing creates before getting one of my own. I now have one as mentioned, and with my purchase of my snake I bought a 'starter kit' at the store as well. However, I feel like the items included within the kit are not nearly enough to maintain a comfortable and safe living environment for my little guy. I only purchased Severus Snake (my ball python) not even 12 hours ago. I didn't have time to do much shopping for supplies and whatnot, as I didn't arrive at the store until 8:30 and it closed at 9. The kit I purchased came with a 20 gl tank, a mesh pad equivalent to the size of the bottom of the tank, a heating lamp, a temperature/humidity gauge, and a heating pad which is roughly 1/3rd the size of the bottom of the night. I'm going back to the store this afternoon, and I want to know what I need to purchase (within reason) to maintain appropriate living conditions for my new snake. I want him to be 100% comfortable. I can tell he is currently quite stressed out as things stand now. My main concern or question is how the combination of lighting/heating lamps/heating pads works exactly. I know my snake needs to be on roughly a 12 hour day/night schedule, but the only consistent source of both light and heat is the heating lamp atop. If I turn it off for the night, he'll freeze as I don't think the heating pad is nearly enough to keep the enclosure warm. I currently have the heating lamp on top of the tank focusing its light and heat onto the middle of the tank. I also have a makeshift water bowl which is located on the far right of the tank, and the heating pad is located on the far left. From what I've read this is a pretty standard setup. The middle is the basking area, the right is the cool-down area, and the left is just a cozy medium between the two. I'm just confused as to what I need to be able to keep the tank at an appropriate temperature at all times while having the option of switching the lights on and off for the schedule. On my purchase list so far is two hides, a real water 'bowl', some substrate, and various artificial plants and vines. I want to make his enclosure perfect. I don't want to keep him in the current conditions for more than one day as he's very unhappy; to a point where he struck at me when I was making slight adjustments to the tank. I don't want our potential bonding and pet-owner relationship to be foiled because he doesn't feel I'm a suitable and safe caregiver. I plan on being quite sociable with my snake, and if he ends up becoming aggressive it'll really ruin the whole experience. If any experienced ball python owners could give me some suggestions, hints, tips, tricks, or any information at all it will be heavily appreciated.
If you want to see what Severus looks like, check out the following thread: http://ball-pythons.net/forums/showt...Severus-Snake!