Is This Right

i have me thermostat at 96 but the inside of the tub is 85 so i put the thermostat to 100 and the hot spot is now 90 do any of you guys have your thermostat higher them your hot spot thanks

Nope...I move the probe accordingly until the temp on the thermostat matches the temp in the tubs.

I use the probe directly on the flexwatt, so my thermostats are all higher than the inside temps... usually set between 95-97 for the pythons & 85-90 for the colubrids, bringing their relative hot-spots to 90/82. Is there any difference in these techniques, or just personal preference? I assume the thermostat works just as hard either way, right? :confuzd:

Edit: I guess placing the probe inside would keep things more stable, but I'm too afraid of my snakes knocking it out of place - they constantly do that with their thermometer probes!

Mine run a couple degrees higher than my flexwatt, just make sure the probe is taped down against the flexwatt and check hot spot temps until it's correct inside the tub and your good to go.

its best to put the T-stat probe in between the UTH and the glass, because you really want the temp of the glass to be right in case he burrows, for example if you get the temps right on the substrate an 93 then he burrows dont and gets burnt at 98. after you get the glass temp at the right hot spot temp, adjust your substrate and your good.

Here is how I placed my t-stat probe when I set up my flex watt. I took a square piece off one of the tub lids using my soldering iron, I creased and bent it into an L shape. I then taped the probe to it and it to the flex watt. My t-stat is set at 90 temp on the hot side of the tubs range from 89 (bottom rack) to 91 (top rack)

Bad fuzzy pic:

http://ball-pythons.net/gallery/file.../5/4/probe.jpg