[Cazador]

Hi Chrissy,
For brevity, I'm going to stick with the "heating" theme for now. Periodically check the temp throughout the day. If your home's thermostat is programmed to cool at night and warm during the day, even the basking spot's temp will change since you're using an overhead light. You don't want to exceed about 88F in your basking spot for very long during the warmest part of the day. Hopefully, your light is set up at one end of the terrarium to provide a warmer end and a cooler end. 88F is too warm to keep the entire terrarium, but it's great for basking.

If your warmest spot is only 77F, you're risking bacterial, fungal, and parasitic outbreaks since your snake's immune system increases and decreases activity according to the temp. One of the first things to do if your snake starts showing signs of illness is to raise the temperature to boost its immune system.

You can change the amount of heat that your light puts out by switching to a more powerful light bulb (i.e. from a 40 Watt bulb to a 60 Watt bulb). You can also change the amount of heat that your snake experiences by putting a flat rock directly under the heat light. That way, the snake is getting heat from above and below. If the heat from below is too high, it can "cook" the feces and produce "fecoliths" and constipation. There are a lot of other ways to change the temp along a gradient if a larger bulb produces too much heat, so be sure to check back in if you need help.
Rick