my friend just came by with his temp gun. the reptibark definitely is keeping the temp levels down on the ground. we turned the thermostat back up, the thermometer reads 106 again, but with the reptibark it isn't that hot. after about 20 minutes of allowing the thermostat to bring the temp up to the max i would allow it (which is set to turn off at 95) the newspaper underneath is at 92 degrees, and the reptibark at 86. the highest the thermometer read was 110, but nothing registered that high with the temp gun. turns out the cool side is very cool as well, so hopefully that will go up a bit (it was at 70 on the substrate). the ambient temp is at 77.3. i moved my thermometer/hydrometer over, it was by the water bowl and the humidity went down to 75%...still a bit high, but much better than being so high that it wasnt able to register. so i'm not as worried anymore about it being over 100 degrees on the glass as long as it isn't touching, nor will it ever be that hot on parker's belly.