Welcome to the board! Let me start off by saying that if people are going to think that you are an idiot than you are not alone. I felt like the biggest idiot but in no time this site got me squared away. Trust me, you are not an idiot! As you can tell, when you have questions, you post them and you get answers. You will love it here.

If you don't mind me putting my pennies in...I would switch out that water dish. I can just see her tipping it over and making a huge mess. You wouldn't have to worry about humidity being too low when/if that happens but that's not the ideal way to raise humidity. I have a very shallow water dish and she soaked in it just fine. But, now that I have the mites under control she only uses her waterdish to drink from so no need for anything large, unless you need it for humidity. I just changed mine from one large enough for her to soak in to something small enough for her to drink from. I'll have to see how it goes.

For the hides, get some cheap $1 cereal bowls from the dollar store, cut a hole into them and your done. I've seen some put the hole on the top and some put it on the side. I guess it's up to you. Just make sure you dont' have any burrs left. Keep in mind that you want to keep them small and snug. They like to be touching on all sides. I used chinese takeout dishes for a while and they worked great! Not even 10 minutes worth of work with the dremel and they were perfect!

You could also consider getting one red bulb, or even a night bulb just to keep your temps up and leave it on 24/7. I can't afford one of those fancy thermostats so I use the dimmer switches from Lowes, one for the UTH and one for the bulb. One of these days I'll upgrade but for now it works. If you go that route, keep an eye on your temps because they are not 100% reliable.

Six months ago, when my son got the snake I was scared to death of her. But, I got over it and don't have a problem getting her out of the tank at all. When I lift the hide, I'll rub her sides until she is calm and then scoop her up from the back. She has never reacted negatively except at my nephew who didn't rub her back..so she hissed at him. that was the one and only time she did that. I'm sure you will think she is just the sweetest thing in no time...I know I did! No offense but I don't think I would use a hook.

Good luck and enjoy!