The heat from the lamp might be too much for her. Are you using a digital or analog thermometer. If its analog then go ahead and toss it in the trash. I went and got a $12 accurite from Walmart and it's way more accurate. I have them in all 5 of my tubs and one for my home. It does imdoor outdoor, and humidity. I have it set to where the probe is right on the uth, and the unit is on the cool side. Also you could use cardboard cut to size and use the other side for storing extra substrate, and other things you might need. My snakes are now in a closet where no one but me goes. I'm very cautious of who sees my snakes. My father in law wants to make snake skin boots. I don't even post pics of my friends. These 5 are too sweet and calm to let people stress them. You said you have a thermostat on its way. You can get a nice uth for a 55gal. You can also get one of the seed mats like what you start seeds on before taking them outside to plant. As long as you have a thermostat on it then you should be good. I use regular uth and I have 1 thermo something. I can't remember the exact name off the top of my head. I use that one under 2 of my rubber made bins. Also you can feed her in her enclosure no problems. I've done both. I've never been bitten because of it either. There is a higher possibility of regurgitation with moving her after she eats from the bin to her enclosure then if you feed in the enclosure. I've been bitten because the snake was extremely stressed and I wasn't paying attention. As long as you don't scare the daylights out of the poor thing you're good. Also you might (not saying you will) get a baby nip from her. Babies can be nippy. I was extremely lucky that my favorite girl never bit me. I've owned her for 4 yrs and even after I got her back from people that didn't take proper care of her she didn't bite. They didn't feed her for almost a year and she didn't bite when I fed her. She did swallow the rat before she completely constricted it and looked for more, but she didn't bite me. Good luck with your new baby.