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[sunshinenorcas]

So I got my tank set up- 10gal on a stand, aspen, two thermometers, UTH. I don't have the snake yet, should be getting her tomorrow :D I hooked up the UTH to get an idea of how hot it'd get and so it'd be warm when she got here and not a few hours of me tinkering with it to get to the right heat.
But I have a question/problem. I have one thermometer

Comments

[neumeindil]

Your aspen level is fine, and 99.5* for the hot side is good. I'd try to keep the cool side closer to 78* if you can, but I wouldn't change out a screen top to do it. They do need air flow, and the screen is the best way to do it.

Can you stick the lead for the thermometer on the cool side for a few hours to get a true reading? If it's actually around 60, which I'd consider a little low for our sandies, you might achieve better balance with a little heat pad (5 gal size, 8" x 4" I think?) under the cool side set very low. The ideal would be thermostats, but that can be a bit of a headache to set up.

[sunshinenorcas]

I stuck the lead in there for a little while and it's about 68ish, but I'll set it there for a few hours and see if that helps. I moved the lead from directly over the UTH heater to in the general area and now it's saying 68 as well :/ I live in OR and my room gets COLD which is not helping the issue at all I think D:

[gaiaeagle]

I would also recommend a thermostat for the UTH. It will help keep the temperature at the right temp and prevent the UTH from spiking too high that could burn your snake. I use the Hydrofarm Thermostat for heat mats. It is about $25-30 on Amazon. It is an on/off switch kind. Set it to a temp, it will heat to that temp, then turn off and let it cool a couple of degrees, then turn back on. The UTH can get too hot and could burn your snake if left unregulated.