Ok, I've had it... I can't control the temperature in my 10 gal. The setup:

100w bulb w/dimmer over one side, human heating pad underneath set on low (had a bulb burn out one night, now I'm paranoid), screen top. Two Oregon Scientific digital thermometers. Dense synthetic vegetation about 2/3 of the length, mostly on the cool side, water dish in the middle.

It can be in the high 90's on one end, and mid 70's at the other at any given time, lower at night. I try to keep it about 89 deg on the hot side under the hide. But when I probe in various locations the temps are just plain wacky. I move it an inch and it's 15 deg higher. What I don't get is the snake seems to prefer the cool side! Why doesn't he stay where it's warmer, or somewhere in between? I mean, the warm is available.. should I just leave it to the snake to find the right temp?

I was thinking of ditching the heat pad, and getting a 250w red heat lamp which I can fine tune w/ dimmer, and leaving it like that at all times. Would this be a more even heat? Will the red light be too bright for him at night?

Thanks!