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

They tend to try and burrow under I would turn the UTH off to be safe but u need to fix the issue soon u don'twant ur BP to become burned so that's the safest bet she'll be ok for a night without it plus if u have a heat lamp that would be good to temporarily keep ur temperature up for now too just a thought better safe than sorry u know :)

ok thanks. so if i replace the eco earth substrate with paper towels, controlling the temp is gonna be way easier? (using a lamp dimmer for UTH)

Should be easier if u put one layer of paper it's super thin so the temperature of the paper towels should be a degree or so off from the actual glass temperature so u can be more accurate and ensure that if BP won't getburned even if she touches the glass... AI lamp dimmer is ok but I say invest in something more reliable a good start is with a hydrofarm thermostat I just got one and it monitors the temperature turning my UTH know and off for me so it stays at the temperature I set it at (roughly 88) it's not too expensive to start with too.