Tank setup

[The Serpent Merchant]

Not everyone does everything the same way, and there's more than one "right" way to do almost anything.

You are coming off a little strong, to me, in a battle of egos in which I refuse to take part in.
I truly thought this forum was to help people, such as this OP (and myself and yourself and many others)... not fight over who is right. Especially on what is largely subjective material. I am quite disappointed.

This has nothing to do with ego, it has everything to do with you posting things that simply aren't true. The whole air gap issue is a very common misconception that is continued by zoo-med and the like having it written on their packaging. I am completely about helping people on this site. ask any of the people who have been a member for a few years. of my 8,000 posts at least ¾ of them are helping new members. I apologize if my posts have come across as strong, I did not intend for them to do so. What I was trying to do is correct a commonly held misconception and provide multiple ways of showing how/why it is incorrect. I feel that simply stating that something is or isn't the case is only half the battle, and that people need to know why things are done the way they are done in the hobby.

There are many ways to keep a ball python and as long as the snake is healthy and a few core things are followed then they are a "correct" way to keep a BP. However in this case you made a statement that simply isn't true and I have the physics to back me up on this. If we were talking about the best substrate to use, or the best heating method I wouldn't have made any posts like the ones I have. As an Engineering major in college I have taken entire courses on heat transfer/advanced physics, and I really do know what I'm talking about here. I'm not trying to show off, I'm trying to help people who might not have that knowledge, and that's what this site is about. Once again I never intended any of my posts as an attack at you, nor anyone else. I was simply trying to clear up a commonly held misconception.

Now on the subject of thermostat placement, yes there are multiple places in a ball python setup that the probe can go. Some work better than others and some simply don't work at all (I've seen people place thermostat probes half way up the wall of a cage and expect it to regulate a UTH mounted under the cage) On this site and many others that I have been on the general consensus is that having the thermostat probe directly attached to the UTH/heat tape is the "best" method. Does that mean it is the only way? No, but it is generally what people recommend to new members because it is the safest. When the probe is directly attached to the UTH on the outside of the cage there is no way for the snake to move the probe away from the heat or for anything in the cage to influence the probe. You then use a probed thermometer to see what the actual cage temperature is and set your thermostat accordingly.
Placing the probe inside the cage is also a perfectly acceptable placement, but it has risks that I don't want a new member to have to deal with. That said they are free to do so. Placing the probe inside the cage will give you better readings, but at the loss of safety.

In my previous post I was trying to say/show that with the generally recommend probe placement the heat buildup issue is in fact a nonissue. I will admit that after rereading that part of the post it does seem a little strongly worded. Later in my post I was just trying to show that even with the probe in the cage it is extremely improbable for a UTH controlled by a thermostat to have any issues with heat build up to the point of dangerous levels. This isn't one of the subjective part of the hobby, this is a matter of how heat transfers and how a thermostat controls a heat source.