I'm not a huge fan of heat lamps. My biggest suggestion would be to ditch that and get a under the tank heat mat. You can go online and get a product called flexwatt relatively inexpensively, as opposed to the more expensive versions in my pet stores. You'll also want to get a thermostat to control this heat mat. I really like the Herpstats and Helix's, but you can go with a bit less expensive Ranco as well. These are NOT cheap, and are really worth every cent though.

You'll want to get your heat up and running, and work out a warm end temp at 92 degrees and a cooler end at around 82. This will take some tweaking and such, and should be double checked with a digital thermometer. You can find some good ones that will measure humidity too, in the most larger stores in the indoor/outdoor thermometer section. I use the Accurite and it measures 2 locations plus the humidity.

Take a look at our caresheet, and browse around the stickies in the bp husbandry and bp general forums. http://www.ball-pythons.net/modules....warticle&id=59

Ah and I don't want to miss your specific questions.....

Substrate... I use plain old unprinted paper myself, but have had success with newspaper and aspen.

As for temps.... I keep at a constant 92 warm and 82 cool, for most of my collection. Breeding is the only thing that changes that.

Misting... Misting is only necessary if you can not keep your humidity around 50-60%. If you are having significat trouble, you can try covering up your screen lid a bit with some aluminum foil or plastic wrap. (all on the outside of the cage of course)

Feeding... I feed once a week, but juvi's can be fed every 5 days as well. I would ask what the animal is currently being fed and try and continue with that.

First and foremost, you need to setup the cage in the right temp and humidity ranges. For an animal that relies on it's environment for it's body warmth and regulating bodily functions this is crucial!!!