Thanks for the help guys.

I still do not understand one thing. I am setting the thermostat so that the maximum temperature achieved does not go above 92° for the warm or 84° for the cool side. Correct? This temperature is given by probes that sit directly on the bottom of the tank --and in my case it's glass. I have noticed that with about an inch of substrate there is a 4-10° difference in temperature from the bottom of the tank to the surface of the substrate. Doesn't this mean that the temperatures at the surface of the substrate, where the snake lays, is too cool. Should I use less substrate? How do you achieve the appropriate temp at the surface of the substrate, without raising the thermostat temp and risking a burn?

Sorry for these novice questions. I'm sure they're spelled-out in a sticky somewhere; I just haven't been able to come across them.