How are you measuring your temps? Hopefully not with that little strip thermometer. Investing in a decent digital thermometer/hygrometer will help your greatly. Wal-Mart sells one made by Accu-Rite for about $12. They are will be far more accurate than that little strip thermometer, which are practically useless for a ball python setup. You'll want to measure your hot spot on the glass, under your substrate with the probe. You can put the unit itself on the other side of his tank to measure his cool side and ambient temps.