HI Karen welcome to the forums! It sounds like you've done a great deal of research and are ready to jump into it!

Couple things, I'm not sure if you got an analog or digital thermometer. Your best option is an Acurite digital thermometer. It's got a probe (usually meant to run outside for outside temps), you can secture that to the warm side and put the thermometer on the cool side so you can get a reading for both. There's also a humidity gauge on it. It's an Acurite from Wal-mart, for about 12 bucks at Wal-Mart.

Usually when people ship FedEx, it's perfectly safe. it's done all the time. It's shipped over night to ensure that you will get it next morning.

You said you were going to a reptile how, If you want to save some money (shipping is usually about $ 50), just buy one at the reptile show. You can find them at prices like 15 bucks for babies.