Hi. I just recently bought my first BP on 11/18. Originally, I had it housed in a 10 gallon tank but it seemed a bit small so I upgraded to a 20 gallon long tank that I set up on 11/25. Here's a picture for reference (I took this before I purchased my Acu-Rite thermometer, so it's not in the picture):



The warm (right) side is heated by a UTH and the cool (left) side is heated by a black light (I'm not sure of the wattage but it keeps the temp. right around 80-82). I still need to buy a thermo/rheostat for the UTH but for the past few days, the temp. was fine at about 90-92. It started to climb today and upon taking a closer look, I realized my coconut mulch had dried out (it was originally a little damp from when I had soaked it to expand it) and that it wasn't providing as much "coverage" over the UTH. I just added in a bit more to thicken it but I was wondering if I should still put something else beneath the substrate so that, even if the mulch gets moved around, my snake will never come into contact with the hot glass underneath? If I should/need to do this, what would make a good "barrier" without affecting the UTH's ability to provide belly heat? I'm trying really hard to find a balance between the substrate and the temperature and could use any tips you guys have.

Also, my humidity is too high. Any tips on lowering it?