Temps with temp gun

[Chemromance98]

I bought a temp gun to read the temps in my cage. It reads air temps and surface temps. When I point the surface temp says 91 to 92 but when it reads the air temp is says 75. I'm worried the temp is too low in his tank since the air temp says 75. My heat lamp is set to about 92 should I turn it up to get the air temp higher or is the temp okay since the surface temp says 92

[Craiga 01453]

You don't want your ambient temps below 75.

Where, exactly are you measuring the surface temp? Your hotspot (on the actual surface, not the substrate) should be 90-92. Remember, your snake may burrow to the actual surface, so this temp is important.

Are you using a UTH as well?

[Chemromance98]

Basically I'm measuring areas on his hot side. I do have an under the tank heater as well. So I should raise the surface temp then even if his surface temps are already 90?

[predatorkeeper87]

Basically I'm measuring areas on his hot side. I do have an under the tank heater as well. So I should raise the surface temp then even if his surface temps are already 90?

with your setup you'll need a hotspot of 88-92, and an overall ambient temp of 76-80. Do not turn up your UTH to try and raise the ambient temperatures, as it will not work and could result in injury to your snake.

[Craiga 01453]

Basically I'm measuring areas on his hot side. I do have an under the tank heater as well. So I should raise the surface temp then even if his surface temps are already 90?

Ok, in order to get your temps properly dialed in it is important to get the actual surface temp above the UTH at 90-92. Not the area, or the substrate, but the actual surface area of the hot spot. So you want to get the hotspot area cleaned off enough that you can point the temp gun at the surface and get a reading. Then make adjustments accordingly using your thermostat.

Next, for your ambient temps, which should be 76-80 but not below 75, you want to use your heat lamp on a tstat or dimmer switch. You will then make adjustments using the tstat or dimmer switch to get your ambient temps right. To get ambient temp readings you can use the in tank thermometer as opposed to the temp gun.

This should get you pretty dialed in, but will take a little time and a few adjustments based on trial and error.