1) Heat pad for belly heat aids in digestion, so it's highly recommended. If you have high humidity *inside your home* it may be easier for you to either go with an aquarium setup or use a low-wattage bulb to lose some humidity.

2) I'm also not familiar with beerchwood, but you do need to be careful to avoid high phenol levels. On the off-chance that you made a typo in beechwood since I got no Google results for beerchwood, I would recommend you avoid it and choose newspaper, paper towels, or commercial reptile bedding if the availability is good.

3) Look for a snake with good muscle tone that grips your hand/arm well, tries to escape if it's baby or juvenile (natural instinct dulled by illness), rights itself easily when turned upside down, and if health condition is known to be good one that is less head-shy.

Things you look for in captive bred aren't necessarily the same as you'd look for in imports, and likewise in juveniles and adults. In an import, a tight ball or striking or rapid escape behavior is likely a sign of a healthy animal trying to defend itself, whereas in an adult or captive bred ball, they may be signs that it hasn't been handled much and may not have had the best attention from its breeder or keeper. On the other hand, some ball pythons just stay skittish regardless of how much attention they get.

And thanks. We do try to be a very good resource for ball python keepers and fans.