Hello Folks,

Santa came by for my son this past year thanks to my father in law and decided his love for reptiles at the age of 6 should be accompanied by a BP. The ball python was actually provided by a breeder. Long story short the snake got handed to me without no advance notice. I had planned on one for him but within the year where I can spend more time researching their needs through a forum and get what I needed.

Ended up getting a Zilla 20L deluxe kit which resulted in 3/4 of the items not being required due to the rush and lack of time for me to review the true needs. I have acquired more items that are essential to help this little guy thrive.

My present setup list below

BP is about 15" long(Still very young) housed in a 20L tank. Used black foam board to seal the sides and rear of the tank.
Substrate: Reptibark
UTH: Zoo med for 10-20 gallon tanks (6" x 8")
Themrostat: Helix DBS-1000
Thermometer: Accurite
Zilla Night bulb I leave on all day long to keep cool side measuring at 79-80 degrees all day long.


Current Scenario: My helix is tape under the tank with the uth attached over it on the exterior. I used foil tape over the adhesive paper and sealed it under the tank....(No prob)

Accurite thermometer is inside on the cool side with foil tape inside over the accurite probe sitting directly above the helix probe.

For me to achieve a heat of 91°F on the inside of tank on the glass requires a setting of the helix at 98°F. On the surface of my reptibark is measuring low to mid 80's at best. (Ended up removing 2 handfuls of reptibark to reduce the surface penetration for the heat and so 100° set on the HELIX helps achieve 92° of surface heat on the top side of the substrate within his hide
Out of the hide in the surrounding coverage area of the uth I am measuring between 84-88°F through the aid of a thermo gun purchased at Lowes which has a +/- 4°accuracy F per the specs sheet.

My ambient temps range between 76-81degrees in the middle mostly.

So I have quickly dropped a bit of cash so I know I'm doing the right thing for my snakes care. The $300+ is fairly inexpensive in comparison to when I managed 3 saltwater reef tanks which was in the low thousands just to get started the "right way".

I need some help here for peace of mind to ensure the health of this new comer in my house.

A) How accurate is the probe from the HELIX unit? IS the foil tape possibly skewing these numbers and should I take a different approach? IS the differential temperature that great between the 3 devices? Who should I trust...
B) Should I add a 50W Infrared bulb over the middle of the tank to increase ambient temps?
c) Should I face the temp probe from accurite arched side facing down, facing up or remove the adhesive tape and tape it down right to the tanks bottom over the helix probe of course both probes being on opposing sides of the bottom glass.

Any picture would help please if you think its necessary or relevant to my present setup?. Sorry for the long post but I want to do things right and believe I have the right tools but need to ensure I'm applying them to this setup correctly.

TIA everyone!

-Nick