Novice needs advice!!

[The Serpent Merchant]

I appreciate it. But wouldnt putting the hydrotherm probe on the outside of the tank defeat the purpose of having.it period??. Can I put the hydrotherm probe directly on the uth inside of the tank and measure it that way??

Not at all. The purpose of a thermostat is to regulate the temperature of the heat source. You want to have the probe on the outside of the cage attached directly to the heat pad. Otherwise the snake could easily move/mess with the probe and potentially cause harm to the snake since the probe is no longer registering the heat that the heat source is generating. The probe can be placed on the inside of the cage, and it will even yield slightly more accurate results (though with the low quality thermostat you are using accuracy isn't possible no matter where the probe is placed) but it is significantly more dangerous. Tape cannot ever be used inside a cage due to the danger of the snake getting stuck to it.