Is a basking lamp needed in my room or can I get by with other lights or emitters?

http://i.imgur.com/hX4wxhC.jpg

I got this guy and his setup off of someone going to college and needing to give him to someone else. It came with what you see there except I bought new thermometers and a UTH with thermostat. With the 75w black light on since cleaning and putting in new substrate this morning I have a warm side temp of 88 almost and the cool side is an ambient 73. My windows have blinds on them but the room lights up as you see in the picture during the day.

I think an infrared lamp would be best to get to bring the temperatures up for the ambient temps. 73 is pretty low. How big is that tank?

Also try covering 3/4 of the top with plexiglass or a damp towl to hold the heat and humidity in. But make sure there's a vent on both sides of screen top to circulate the air.

The funny thing is that this is a 20 gallon terrarium that is 30 inches long. I got a medium pad that is 12 inches long and 16 watt so it is almost halfway across. I even called zoomed since everyone online seems to believed that the pads can reach extremely high temperatures and they themselves state it only.helps about 5 degrees or so. I wonder if I got a dud pad, and if I replace it since I.purchased it through amazon, should I reorder a small size 8w instead. The one I got even says it is meant for 30 to 40 gallon terrariums.

Most heating pads do reach extremely high temperatures and that's why you always have a thermostat. If I'm not mistake the zoomed ones can reach upwards of 110 degrees? If you have a 30-40 gallon one it most likely puts out a lot of heat. What kind of thermostat are you using?

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Originally Posted by Cyndymei

Most heating pads do reach extremely high temperatures and that's why you always have a thermostat. If I'm not mistake the zoomed ones can reach upwards of 110 degrees? If you have a 30-40 gallon one it most likely puts out a lot of heat. What kind of thermostat are you using?

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A hydrofarm thermostat, this one here: http://www.hydrofarm.com/product.php?itemid=3372

Is this a good one?

It is an okay temporary thermostat in my opinion. It does the job but there is no safety off in case the heating pad overheats. I highly recommend herpstats they are fantastic and have safety features.