Trouble regulating temp

My family is new to snakes. We did spend the better part of the last year researching ball pythons and how to care for a snake. So we got a male 6month old ( he is 29 inches long and almost1 1/4" wide). We helped him shed. We have successfully fed him. The temp is just NOT holding. We live in the Pacific Northwest (think Portland, OR). It is wet and cool here.
The tank is a 25 gallon snap close with external clips and additional clips. We have a 8x12" heating mat regulated by a thermostat set to 95 because it is just not getting warm enough. The probe is in the tank under the substrate. We have been comparing temps with a heat gun and a probe thermometer which keep reading 82 on the heat pad and 71-76 on the cool side.
The box has 4 sets of 9, 1/4" holes drilled. I have since covered 6 holes out of each group.

Do we need to add another heating pad to the other side of the tank?

Do I need to move the thermostat probe up to the side so the belly warmth spot actually gets to 90? What are we doing wrong?

I tried to attach photos but they didn't transfer

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Originally Posted by MidLifeCalm

My family is new to snakes. We did spend the better part of the last year researching ball pythons and how to care for a snake. So we got a male 6month old ( he is 29 inches long and almost1 1/4" wide). We helped him shed. We have successfully fed him. The temp is just NOT holding. We live in the Pacific Northwest (think Portland, OR). It is wet and cool here.
The tank is a 25 gallon snap close with external clips and additional clips. We have a 8x12" heating mat regulated by a thermostat set to 95 because it is just not getting warm enough. The probe is in the tank under the substrate. We have been comparing temps with a heat gun and a probe thermometer which keep reading 82 on the heat pad and 71-76 on the cool side.
The box has 4 sets of 9, 1/4" holes drilled. I have since covered 6 holes out of each group.

Do we need to add another heating pad to the other side of the tank?

Do I need to move the thermostat probe up to the side so the belly warmth spot actually gets to 90? What are we doing wrong?

I tried to attach photos but they didn't transfer

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the probe for a uth always goes between the glass and the uth on the outside of the tank. Everything gets regulated with a thermostat. The problem is you will not increase ambient temps with uth. You need a che or a rhp.

I live in a similar climate to you and had similar problems when I first got my BP. Like mentioned above, you need a ceramic heat emitter or radiant heat panel to increase the ambient temperature in the tub. I ended up installing a CHE on top of the tub following this tutorial: https://rainbowsnakes.tumblr.com/pos...quipment#notes

This will cause you to lose humidity significantly faster so I'd recommend covering the mesh top with aluminum foil if you use the method linked above. If you're able to use an electric oil heater to raise the ambient temperature in the room, that helps a lot too. And of course, it goes without saying that if you do add a CHE and or electric oil heater both of those need to be regulated by a thermostat.

We have a glass tank (but because we did all the reading and agreed they would work better for fish we put it away in favor of the plastic). I feel like the glass would be easier to insulate and use a ceramic heater with than the plastic tub.

Just throwing this out there as a learning experience...

This is why it's so important to do proper research and have the enclosure up and running BEFORE bringing an animal home.

What I learned when starting. Put the stat probe between the UTH and the glass. Then use your temp gun to test the bare surface floor of the tank to your target temp, my hot side is at 90 right in the middle and around 88 on the outer edges of the UTH. Then cover with substrate, a thin layer and if the snake wants to be a little warmer he will burrow down closer to or to the glass. I bought two UTH's one on the hot side and one on the cool side set at 80 degrees. Then I have a small CHE to bump the ambient temps this time of year.

Probe goes outside as already mentioned and temp check should be done under the substrate.
Also just a uth will do little for ambient temperatures.
What is the ambient in the room?