Last night I picked up a new BP, a 5yo female who came with her setup. I was told the cage was a Boaphile, and while I can't find any brand marking on it, it looks similar to what I see on their website. It measures 3'x2'x18".

My question is about the heating: This cage has a radiant heat panel mounted on the "ceiling" on the right side as well as under-tank heat covering the center of the floor, both of which are plugged into an Alife thermostat. The thermostat probe sits in the middle of the floor of the cage. The thermostat seems to work well at keeping the entire cage floor in the 80-90 range. My concern is about the surface of the radiant heat panel. It is extremely hot to touch, and when I measure the surface of the panel it gives me readings of 160-170 degrees. I am afraid my snake will get burned! I tried unplugging the radiant heat panel, but the UTH does not seem to be enough to keep the cage temps high enough.

Are my concerns valid? I though about mounting the thermostat probe closer to the heat panel, but I'm not quite sure how to go about it or if it would solve the problem. (I don't want to start drilling a million holes in the cage for nothing.) I have never used radiant heat panels or a cage like this before, so any suggestions are appreciated!