Where to measure temp?

[doctorowl]

Hey guys,

I've been using this site for snake care for a while and now I have a question I can't seem to find the answer to!

I have a hatchling nelson's milksnake, he is a real little fella. I have him in a 15gal glass tank (leftover from when I used to keep mice, figured I might as well use it) and it's full of plants, hides, etc. so he'll be nice and cozy despite the larger tank size.

I'm using a light dimmer temporarily, planning to get a Herpstat Intro+ on my next payday. The light dimmer works wonderfully but I have to fiddle with it.

Where do I measure the temps? Directly ON TOP of the aspen, or directly UNDER on top of the glass/newspaper?

Right now I have it so on top of the aspen is 80-82F (It fluctuates a bit with ambient heat and also the thickness of the substrate, an inch to the left might be a bit lower or higher). Underneath, directly on the newspaper/glass, is 95-96F. I just want to make sure that's not TOO HOT. Because he is very tiny and spends all of his time burrowed under the aspen, I don't want him laying on the glass and burning himself. The cool end is 70-75 btw.

If I want the aspen to be a steady 85, the glass ends up being above 100F, even up to 105 which is too hot in my opinion... so I've been keeping it on the low 80s so he won't burn himself digging down.

Am I doing this right?? He seems to be okay and ate his first meal here last night. He is pretty terrified of me haha.

When I do get my Herpstat what temp do I set the stat to? If I set it to 95F it should mimic the setup I have right now. But I know cornsnakes can die at such high temps, and I dunno what the limit for a milksnake is...

[Scottywelsh]

If he sits on the newspaper I would take the aspen out of his hide and measure the temp on top of the newspaper.
If he's always laying on it anyway then may as well make it easier for yourself and safer for your snake and have the correct temp where he spends most of his time
If you don't want to do that then just make the aspen much thinner above the heat Mat. Much less likely to burn then and will be easier to maintain the correct temp.

[PitOnTheProwl]

You ALWAYS get your temperature from the hottest surface your animal can touch so that would be under any bedding.

[usaf21stsf]

You ALWAYS get your temperature from the hottest surface your animal can touch so that would be under any bedding.

This ... My snake will burrow if he needs the extra heat and has removed most of substrate in one of his hides on his uth side that I have on the thermostat measured at 91-92

[doctorowl]

Alright, so I should make sure the HOTTEST part is not any higher than 90. Since I know the temp range for milksnakes is mid 80s, it should never be higher than 90F? Is that right?

I don't want to remove the aspen since he likes to burrow, he's just a baby. On most of the care sheets it was recommended to have at least an inch of substrate for digging.

If the bottom of the tank is 90F, and on top of the substrate is 75-80 (which is what happens when the aspen absorbs some of the heat) that will be okay?

[doctorowl]

argh double post, sorry!!

I removed some of the aspen so it's only about 1/4 to 1/2 inch thick now. The bottom newspaper is reading 86 at the hottest, and on top of the aspen is about 78-80. Hopefully that's better.