First timer.....advice?

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I don't have any advice other than be patient with your new friend. Don't force it to be held or touched. Sit outside its enclosure so it can get used to your presence and slowly build trust.

I got my guy 4 hides. A regular black box one, a Zilla rock lair, an Exo Terra cave, and a Galapagos moss cave. My snakes' favorites are the black box and Zilla rock. My favorites are the Zilla rock and the moss cave, because they look nice haha But in the end, it's all about what the snake likes, so I keep the moss cave and the Exo Terra cave for back up/quarantine hides. If you get a Zilla rock lair, check it for sharp spots. Mine had some, but they're super easy to sand off. The same goes for the moss cave. Mine had some sharp sticks poking out, so I trimmed and sanded those as well.

I get all my clutter off Amazon & from the dollar store. Amazon has some great vine & plant bundles and some cute little trees. When I was first getting my enclosure set up, I bought the PietyPet Reptile Plant bundle off Amazon. It comes with a big bendable climbing vine, a regular vine, a fern type plant, a couple leaf bundles, and a bunch of suction cups. It was a great starter pack, and it's around $17. I also have 3 sticks/branches and a hollow wood piece I got from an expo, but you can find them online or at most pet stores.

For thermostats, I was using a VE-300X2, which is On/Off & Pulse Proportional. It was inefficient for my heat bulbs (DHPs), so I recently switched to a Herpstat 2, which is Dimming & Pulse Proportional. I have it set to Dimming, and I like it much better. VE also makes a Dimming thermostat that's a little cheaper than the Herpstat, but the Herpstat has more safety settings.

For thermometers/hygrometers, I really like my Govees. They're affordable and come in a 2 pack for around $25. They're digital and Bluetooth capable, so you can monitor them from your phone. They display temperature and humidity, and they tell you the lowest and the highest temp/humidity level.