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Watch your snake closely. Most ball pythons don't like the high temps that so many care sheets suggest. I think the idea of keeping a basking spot of in the 90s comes from "well they come from Africa and it's hot there". While this is true, it doesn't take into consideration the fact that ball pythons in the wild live their days in burrows where it's cool and come out at night when it's also cool. Many of them also come from the coastal planes of Africa where it's quite cool and breezy anyway year around. But anyway, watch the little guy. If he's never on the warm side, it's too hot. Keep cooling it down till you reach a point where he's not so huddled on the cool side 24/7 and actually uses the whole cage to thermoregulate. Night drops of 5-10 degrees also help with this. Overactive, constantly cruising the cage during the day is not good. They are nocturnal by nature and if he does this, he's stressed probably from not being happy with the temps. A lot of people mistake this for them being happy and willfully exploring the cage. Reality is that he's trying to get away from what's making him uncomfortable even if that means wading through it. "Exploring" almost always really means "looking for a way out".
I disagree completely with anyone suggesting to put the water bowl on or under the heat source to generate humidity. Heated water isn't a preference for drinking water for any animal I know of. Mist the cage like you are doing and all is well. Except, you don't wet the substrate. Wet the air. To do this, use scalding hot water as hot as you can get it out of the tap. Sprayed in a fine mist, it evaporates immediatly as you spray it, cools before it lands dramatically and becomes instant humidity. It won't burn your snake, I promise. Test it on your forearm. Again..Humidity is evaporated water in the air, not wet bedding.
The bubble stone may be ok or may not. It will vary whether it will work or not by individuals. If you notice he's not drinking (you will have to observe him at night) take it out of course but if you have noticed that he's not bothered by it, leave it! Moving water also creates humidity.
Congrats on your new kid. Sounds like you are off to a great start.
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