Heating pad help

[Billy305]

I'm currently using a large zoomed under tank heat pad that I got from a buddy of mine because my old pad burned out. I use a layer of cypress much in the 40 gallon long tank. I have a large kitty litter bin flipped over with a hole for her hide. I have a basic thermo/humidity meter that stays in the cage but no IR temp gun until yesteday.

A few days ago I left the large digital thermometer under her hide to get a rough guess and was surprised when I almost saw it at 110 degrees F. Knowing that this was only on top of the much, I dug out some of the mulch and touched the glass where the heat pad was attached and it was HOT. Like if I stuck my hand on there for a few seconds it could get burned pretty bad.

Worried for my snake I unplugged it right away and went to home depot the next day and got a dimmer so now I am able to adjust the head pad to get the temperature I need.

My question is:
Using the IR gun, should I heat it up so the mulch on the top is 92ish degrees knowing the glass under it will be hotter to achieve this temperature. Or should I make it so the glass is the right temperature (meaning the mulch where she lays wont be as hot). The only problem is that if the glass is the right temp, the mulch wont get warm enough but would prevent her from getting hurt. She has never been much of a burrower and I have only found it under her water bowl once. Should I make the layer of much over her heat spot really thing to get the two temperatures as close as possible? I appreciate any help.

[Billy305]

The ambient room temps are always 70 to about 80 degrees depending on the time of day or if the air is on.

[cmack91]

i would thin it out some, and set it so the top of the mulch is at 89-90

[Compher]

I also got my IR gun yesterday, they are fun aren't they? What I did was dim the heat pad so that the top of the mulch is 89-91 degrees. When I push some aside and check the glass it's like 105ish. The top of the mulch (well I use coconut chips) is never above 92, and the air temp is usually between 80-82. I would assume that the layer of insulation from the mulch will keep the snake from directly touching the hot glass. I use around a 4 inch layer and tightly pack it to keep it from moving at all. Allowing the top to get to 90 will provide the basking spot needed. As long as your substrate doesn't move and the snake has no chance of touching the glass, I think you're ok.