Well, I have purchased my first ball python last week. I am not new to snakes, or their heating requirements. After due research, and a head full of being a snake daddy once again. I have his home all set up. I've got his hides, his cool side sitting at a constant 78F and hot side maintaining 88F with humidity ranging from 55 to 60 %. My only concern is his UTH which I have placed stuck to the bottom of my tank with a rheostat probe between it and the glass. It reads with my rheostat bottomed out at around 97F. I also have a digital thermometer with a probe pressed inside the hide against the glass which averages about 93F. ( I feel it is about a degree or two too high) my substrate is coco husk, and is about 1/2" thick. My question and concern is I can't lower that temperate any further with the rheostat as it is bottomed out. Will this temperate be okay for my little slithery friend? Or do I have any options as to offering more range of control on my UTH temperature?

Thank you guys so much! Looking forward to chatting and joining the community.