Hi! Welcome to the forum! This is an awesome place to learn, so please stick around.
You'll need to (quickly) acquaint yourself with the basic husbandry needs of ball pythons as you're a bit of a mess right now. And I say that with love, because we all start somewhere!
For starters, BPs need belly heat to digest their meals. Your UTH needs to go under the tank to provide that belly heat. You must also have the UTH on a thermoSTAT to regulate it as an unregulated heat source can spike and severely burn your snake. Most of us use Herpstats (on the high end) or Jumpstart (moderately priced) thermostats. Hot side temps should read 88°-90°, nothing over 90°. ThermoSTAT probe goes between UTH and bottom of tank, not inside the tank. Measure surface temps inside the tank with a temp gun.
Cool side temps should read 77°-80°. Ambient air temps should be high 70s to 80°. You may need a Ceramic Heat Emiter (CHE) to get your ambient temps right if your house is cold. CHE needs to also be on a thermostat to keep in range.
Humidity should average around 55%-60%, but bump it up to 70% during their shed cycle.
Get a hygrometer to measure your humidity. Get a temp gun to measure your temps.
Identical hides on each side of the tank, one on hot and one on cool.
This is a ton of info, but husbandry is the most critical element to your snake ownership, so it must be dialed in.
Nearly forgot one MAJOR point! Many newbies use those zoomed stick-on thermometers in their tanks. Never, never, ever, never, ever put anything adhesive inside your tank. Never. Nothing remotely sticky ever. Your snake can and will find it and the injuries caused can be horrific. Google if you're brave.
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