Quote Originally Posted by PurplePython View Post
Hey Nightlad, since I don't currently have a rheostat or thermostat I just took your advice and added a little extra bedding over the are of the heat pad. My digital thermometer reads that above the heat pad right under the tree hide is consistantly around the mid-80's. Ever since I moved my red bulb from the hot side to the middle of the tank, the ambient air temperature seams to have stayed about the same, but like I said the heat area where his tree hide is has gone down from 87-92 to about 84-86.

Now I am worried that he isn't getting ENOUGH heat rather than too much. Should I just keep the red bulb on the hot side of the tank?

I am about to go out now and try to find a thermostat or something but none of the petshops carry the stuff that you guys reccommended that I purchase. I will probably have to just buy a regular home one instead of a pet one because I can only find them online and I dont really trust ordering stuff that much.
A home thermostat will not work. I would just buy the thermostat online. If you order from a reputable site, what is not to trust? I am pretty sure petsmart sells the reptitemp 500r online. In the meantime you can go to home depot or lowes and get a piggy back light dimmer so you have at least some control over the heat pad.

Stick the probe thermometer under the substrate right over where the heating pad is. You want to measure the hottest point your snake can get to.