Picked up the AcuRite thermometer from Walmart today and set it up with the probe over the heat pad and the unit in the cold side. Turns out the bottom of the tank above the pad was pushing 114 degrees! And I thought the tank was too cold... I unplugged the heating pad until my thermostat comes in. Hopefully soon.

Two further questions I could really use advice on:

-Will the snake be alright with only the lamp for a couple days until my thermostat comes in and I can use the heat pad again? (cold side temps are about 76 without the heat pad)
-Any tips on getting a hot enough ambient air temp without losing too much humidity? Like I said in the first post, I tried saran wrap but it doesn't seem to be helping much.

Thanks again everyone!