Ball python help

[Greez]

So, I guess this is my fault in a way and maybe thats why I'm being slightly punished for it but this is my situation. I've been wanting to get a reptile of some sort and have been looking into different ones for about three months now. I couldn't really decide if I wanted a snake or not and if so what kind. I decided I would get a ball python in a few months and have been talking about it with my family/ friends to see what they thought. I remember talking to my cousin about getting a ball python since he has a few reptiles, and although he is younger then me has a large amount of random knowledge. He said that he had always wanted one but wasn't sure how my 1st cousins, he's parents would react. I had to leave shortly after our talk but I guess the idea to get one never left he's mind because he went out and bought one

I got the wonderful call from my cousin, swearing like a sailor and madder then I have ever seen her So, to make a painfully long conversation short I will be taking responsibility for the snake until my young cousin turns 18 and has he's own place. Although since he is only 12/13 It looks like I'll have the little snake for a long time.

Anyway My cousin told me the snake is a ball python which I'm guessing a Het. Ghost is a type of morph. My cousin is letting me keep all his items for this snake which are:
60W heat bulb
humidifier/ thermometer gauges
water bowl
two hiding places one a little smaller then the other
some decorations
and some random things to help keep and move prey and store equipment.

I'd like to know what else I may need or things that will help me keep this snake without incident. My cousin may think I was ready for this snake but I feel overwhelmed and could use some help.

 

[coura]

I think you would be better with a het pad (zoomeds are in my experience pretty good) then a 60w bulb. The material you have is ok, dont forget aspen shavings for substrate. You will also need frozen roedonts of apropriate size and good quality. This is a very easy snake to keep, if its a het you are assured its captive bred and so unlikely to have the feeding issues wild cauth ones have.

 

[Greez]

I'm getting a heat pad and something to monitor heat/humidity with a probe, I also bought a tube to keep him in since I have been hearing a lot of bad things about aquariums losing heat/humidity. I figured if one doesn't work the other should
Food wont be hard to find the local LFS has them in large quantities in both live and frozen, but I've read that freezing them cause certain nutritional values to be lost. I may just kill the feeder before the feeding to prevent this loss in nutrients.

 

[ExoticEctotherms]

Frozen rodents are fine to feed to all snakes. Nutrition loss, if any, is minimal.

I had a question though... How do you know that the BP is a Het Ghost? Was that told to your cousin by the seller? If so, did he get paperwork guaranteeing that the snake is definitely Het Ghost?