A few days ago I picked up my first python from a local breeder, I was either going to step into pythons or get another Colubrid. Anyways I bring him home and set him up in a 15 long it’s about half the height of a 10 gallon and a little longer. I have a heat mat 2 hides on hot and cold side a water dish in the middle and a heat mat under his hot side hide set at 85. I have him on a mix of spagnum and cypress about 1 1/2 inches thick every where but on top of his heat mat I also covered a good portion of his screened lid on the outside with tin foil. I also splurged and got him a 40 watt nano ceramic heat emitter something relatively low wattage for the height of the tank (I can also use it for my hognose when my blood outgrows his current living situation). Anyways, I’m having a rough go of it trying to perfect my temps in his tank I went to the local reptile shop to ask about raising ambient temps and one of the ladies their told me to raise his heat mat temperature high enough that it will make his substrate warms enough that he does not have to burrow I immediately disregarded this information as potentially harmful and left. I was hoping I could get some help with a few questions I have learned a lot from this forum just browsing so this is my first post

-will it be ok to use the CHE on my bloods tank to raise ambients? I don’t worry to much about humidity as I am in south Florida and a few sprays gets me between 60 and 70% for a good while.

-My ambient temps on my thermometer reads between 79-81 on the hot side but this doesn’t take into account the substrate temp which sits at the low 70s I measure with my temp gun. Is the substrate temp suppose to match the ambients?

- How much of the screen lid can I safely cover in foil while maintaining good ventilation? Could I cut out just a portion for the CHE or do I need to make hole around the edges as well?

Essentially I just need some advice on raising my ambients in a glass tank I know plastic tubs would have been a better option and I am not opposed to it. I have spent a lot of money so far and I am willing to spend a lot more to do this perfectly I may be new to pythons but I am very passionate about my animals and doing this right. I don’t have a temp controlled room and my temps fluctuate quite a bit from low 70s to high 70s I’ve been keeping my room temp at 78 just to raise my ambients in my tank while I figure out his heating situation which is god awful lol. I will try to post some pictures ASAP

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