I am obviously new to this hobby and am trying to do the best job with it and also keep from getting bogged down.
I bought an acurite yesterday; i have it set up now, but have a possibly dumb question about it. I placed the probe basically on the glass. On top of that, I have a layer of newspaper to keep Humbaba from getting to the hot glass. Then, above the newspaper I have aspen (I think - it just looks like wood shavings to me) bedding. Now since the probe is somewhat lower than where my snake is gonna spend its time, wouldn't the temp I'm getting be inaccurate? For example, the readings will spike to outrageous temps (110+), yet the lower layer of bedding is really only warm to the touch. I've been shutting the UTH off for fear my snake will ignite, but just realized the temp readings could be 10 degrees off if the heat is just getting trapped underneath the newspaper.
I really just need a temporary fix until the t-stat I ordered arrives, but I'm not really digging plugging/ unplugging the uth every 15 minutes and really don't know if i'm keeping Humbaba's temps close to what they need to be on one side of the tank.
As is probably evident, I just need some help.