Do not put the pad in the tank - if it shorts out and the temp skyrockets you've got one burned snake. They will not realize they've been burned until it's too late. Besides, you also don't want the risk of your snake getting into the trashbag somehow and suffocating. Don't ever put tape inside the tank - too many people (and if you search through old messages on this forum you'll see) have done so and ended up having to remove it from their snakes - sometimes with some scales. Just weight the newspaper down with the hides and deco. As I said earlier, make sure there's no gap between the pad and the bottom of the tank and perhaps if you decrease the gap between the pad and the stand that may help up the temp a bit. You may be able to fix it all w/o getting the infrared - but I think they're cool for nighttime viewing. Let us know how it goes!





