Help with Humidity and temp

Hi I just got my BP and I'm struggling with the humidity and temp. I have a heat lamp and UTH hooked to a thermostat which seems to be working. However, the hot side seems to stagnate at 83 degrees (i know thats not too low) but the cool side stagnates at about 78 degrees. Is that too off balance. I wanted to get 87 and 75 but am I just being too particular and worrisome? My tank is a 36x18x17.

Now, I'm also really struggling with humidity. It's stagnating at about 43-45%. I'll mist by hand, which instantly bumps it up the 80's, and within an hour drops back down. I was told to try plexiglass, however, if I do that, my cool side temp will raise, and I don't need that. I'm thinking of the wet towel method? Would that work?

Thanks all

A few questions, what is the wattage of the bulb for you lamp, and what kind of substrate are you using? when I was using a terrarium I used the damp towel method and it worked out fine for me. I was able to keep a 50-60% humidity level. a decent sized water dish will also help . I had the hot side of the tank at 90-92 and the cool side was around 79-82. With the towel you will have to wet it at least once a day and I recommend changing out the towel every other day so it doesn't get stagnant.

My bulb is a red infrared one, so he can't see it at night. Its a 75 watt, which was suggested to me by someone who's owned her own BP for 9 years. I have moss on the cool side, and aspen mulch on the hot side. I put a towel on about 5 minutes after posting, and it raised the humidity to 62% which is good. Also, my snake is starting to shed, so I figured 60's is decent. However, now that the towel is on, the temp has raised to 79.2 on the cool side. Hot side is still just under 85. I'm just really struggling with balancing out the temp versus humidity.

the cool side temp is fine, the low temp on the hot side could also be affected buy the ambient temperature of the room you are keep the tank in, but you have a decent gradient which is important also what temp is the thermostat set to? If you could post a picture of the tank and setup that could also help as others with far more experience than I do might chime in with their advice as well

My thermostat is set to 90. But it usually doesn't get above 88 anyway. My gradient temp in the room right now is probably around the 70's. I live in WA state and don;t have air conditioner ( most ppl here don't) cause it doesn't get more than 85 hardly ever. So right now, my room is just controlled by outside temp. And it usually seems to be 70's in here.

http://ball-pythons.net/gallery/show...mageuser=52170

I can't figure out how to post a picture. It keeps saying to use a URL. I don't have any snake pictures from a URL