Hello everyone!

A little bit of background info:

At the end of the summer, I'm moving across the country to Arizona for graduate school. After I get settled in, I'm planning on buying my very first snake! I'm planning on getting a ball python at the Tucson reptile expo in October. I've been doing a lot of research; I want my snake to be happy and healthy, and as such, I have a few (okay, well more like a lot) of questions. I'll start by describing what my setup plan is, then provide some questions at the bottom.

The Supplies:
Tank:
NPI S36T

UTH:
Zoo Med UTH (15.5''x8'')

CHE:
Fluker's
Plus clamp lamp and lamp stand

Thermostat:
Herpstat 2

Thermometer/Hygrometer:
Was actually looking for a recommendation here.

Other tank stuff:
Repti-Carpets
2 Hides
Water Dish (heavy stone)


The Plan:
I'm planning on setting up my tank as follows:

- hot side: 90-92 , cool side 80-82, ambient: 80-82, humidity: 50-60%, 70% during shed
- UTH under hot side
- CHE for ambient temps
- Herpstat controlling UTH and CHE
- One hide one each side
- Water dish in the center
- Still not sure on thermometer/hygrometer placement, I'll have a more specific question in the next section.


The Questions:

General:

1) How are you doing today? :)
2) To my understanding, I need to measure hot side floor temp, cool side floor temp, ambient temp, and humidity. Is this right? How many thermometers would this require?

Supplies:

1) I'm not planning on getting a rack system, I only want one snake (for now). How should I mount this tank?
2) Is there a better tank out there that you would recommend? I want something with high visibility, but not a glass aquarium.
3) Which thermometer/hygrometer would you recommend? I know to stay away from analog and stick-ons, but apart from that, I'm not sure what to get. I've read reviews of some online, and it seems like a lot have major problems with accuracy, sometimes varying by 10 degrees, and 20~30% humidity!

Setup:

1) This kind of relates to General question #2, and you may have answered it already. In addition to the thermostat, which controls the amount of power to the UTH and CHE, thus regulating temps, do I also need to measure floor/ambient temps as a precautionary measure in case of failure?

2) Where should I put the CHE? From the pictures, it looks like my only two options with that particular tank are over the hot or cool side. I was planning on putting it over the center so that the ambient temps are more even throughout the tank, but this may not be an option.

3) How do you regulate cool side temps without using another UTH (which I'm told is overkill)?

4) If I have the UTH and CHE on the thermostat, where should I put the probes? I've heard under the substrate on the hot side or
between the UTH and the bottom of the tank. I'm planning on putting my ambient one in the center about halfway up the side of the tank, secured with hot glue.

5) Related to #4, It looks like there is nowhere to snake the probes into the tank with the one I've chosen. How would you accomplish this without drilling a hole in the tank?



That's all for now, thanks for hanging in!