Ball Python Question? - Heating?

First off, we got our first python Sunday, and he ate Monday night. Well I got brave enough to try and handle him last night and hes the sweetest thing, he wasn't at all aggressive. Well I know heat helps them in digestion. And we got him a Exo-Terra Heat Wave Rainforest Small undertank mat heater. Long, I know hehe. Well, its plugged in and it doesn't seem to be producing much heat at all. Its barely warm to the touch and the only thing we have ontop of it is a sheet of newspaper. Is it broken? Or is that how its suppose to be?