New to ball pythons! Need help with how to measure hot spot temp!

seems really hard to be able to balance the glass temp to be 95 or less, while balancing the hot spot on substrate to be 88-92... :(

That's why I use paper towels for substrate. Just a single layer of them. This way the temperature of the floor of the cage and the temperature ontop of the paper towels is within a degree of each other. My cages are designed to house reptiles, and hold heat/humidity in very well, because of this I don't need a substrate like eco-earth that releases moisture into the air in the cage to help maintain humidity. If you aren't having humidity issues you might consider switching.

well my humidity levels are about 44-48%. i posted in another thread, someone said that's ok humidity as long as i have a humid hide that has a bit more

If your humidity is sitting around there I probably wouldn't switch then. To boost your humidity you can add warm water to the eco-earth.

Add a cup at a time so you don't flood the tank. You want the substrate to be damp not dripping wet. The added water will also help transfer heat which might solve your temperature issue. (remove the snake before adding water)

like literally take everything out and add warm water, then mix all the substrate? ive been misting til its damp but that seems to not really do anything

Yes.

Misting will just make the surface damp. By mixing in larger amounts of water you should see a noticeable increase in humidity. Just don't put so much in that your tank turns into a swamp. Having aluminum foil or plastic wrap around 80% of the screen top of your cage will help to keep the humidity in the tank as well.

ok thanks. im having so much trouble with this hot spot temp... im worried for my ball python. right now the glass temp is 91, hot spot substrate temp is only 82.. seems like at that rate, glass temp will be 95, with a hot spot of only 86! :O

What is the temperature of the room that the cage is in? Do you have any other heat sources?

normal temp. bout like 70 degrees. im using a UTH and a 75 watt infared lamp to even out the temps. please help! im worried now

i use the infared to keep the cool side about 75-79 degrees, without it, cool side goes to like 70

i have a 1/2 inch of eco earth over the glass, so im using 2 thermometers to see the temp. the glass temp is 91, 81 for the surface temp (hot spot), i have no idea how to get glass temp of 95, and a surface temp of 88.. (hot spot) since it seems like they are 10 degrees apart :/