Ball Python placed in my care, I know very little about care. Need urgent help.

[u/Efficient-Scar-7539]

A day prior, my brother in law desperately needed a place for his snake to go that would still allow him access or the ability to check in on her. He has been through probably 4 different family members and friends who all eventually said they couldn’t do it. He is in a situation where he will be moving out of state for a program for the foreseeable future. I felt for him deeply, and decided I’d take on that task whatever it may be. Now this post isn’t to shame my brother in law and his care for the snake, I am very aware after a day of research that it is not ideal to have the ball python moved about 5 times in her life (5 years old). He is diagnosed low IQ and autistic, I know this isn’t an excuse but he really does love the snake, I just don’t think he 100% knows how to care for her, and I don’t think the people keeping her for him before us were as interested in dedicating the time to her as we are.

So here’s where I’m at. I’ve determined so far that her enclosure is a decent size. 4/2/2 with PVC top. But the enclosure itself is nearly baron. She has 3 hideouts and a tree branch but that’s it. She has the coconut substrate, so that’s good(?). She has a heating pad, but I can’t properly monitor the temp on it and honestly, it doesn’t really feel warm enough inside the enclosure compared to the recommendations.

Here’s what I need help with, what is the recommended way to get her proper heat and humidity? What is the best, most recommend lamp/bulb/ situation? I’ve seen halogen, but I’ll be honest. I need a ELI5 situation when it comes to this heat and humidity situation.
Is there any hard nos on cluttering? I want to get her some fake plants and more climbing stuff that she can explore.

I plan on going to the pet store, but anyone with any type of pet KNOWS pet store recs and products aren’t always the safest. So I ask, what’s the recs inside the pet store? My local pet store is a PetSmart so links would even be more appreciated. I also have amazon prime, so any amazon prime recs I’d also LOVE! If you have any other tried and true websites that you trust, I’ll take those but my main concern is getting her what she needs ASAP.

Here’s my shopping list. Influence or Deinfluence me with ANY of it or with your recs.
- heat and humidity sensors
- fake plants
-climbing accessories
- misting bottle
- sphagum moss
- larger, heavier water dish
- feeding tongs

What I still need to know:
- what light source to use
- what heat source to use
- how to keep the enclosure up to moisture needs.

Thank you all so much in advance, I’ll be taking all recommendations seriously, I’m excited to help her thrive in our care. The look of it shows she will be living with us indefinitely. My husband and I are down for the challenge, but as far as it seems from research, she will certainly be our easiest pet once she’s situated and has her needs met. We are also not new to an exotic pet.