Important Advice for Newbies (from a fellow newbie)

[das_nooblet]

The thermometers with the probes aren't too bad though. Usually they can be a couple of degrees off. Right now my digital probe thermometer is reading 92.9F while the herpstat is reading 92.0F. The temp gun is reading 91.6F. Which one is actually right is a very good question but do these few point degrees really matter? Your temperatures must have been very different though right? Like a couple degrees apart. As bad as this really may sound, might not hurt to get a third thermometer and see what that one says kind of like I do? Just a suggestion though. These thermometers are still technology and can always have flaws. So really your first thermometer could have been right, while the laser temp gun may have a flaw or may not be calibrated properly?

Contemplating a third thermometer. when spot-checking around the tank, I found that my gradient was all of a couple degrees, and I actually had several spots (including the hide) on the cool side that were warmer than the warm side and vice versa

Spent a little bit playing around with the lamp placement and rheostat, and managed to get it more like what it should be
May also have been caused by poor placement of the thermometer probes maybe.

Pretty certain the temp gun is working fine. Went playing around with it throughout the house, and numerous things (fridge, fish tank, dog, etc)were reading as they should or as expected

Overall though, I'm still sorry I didn't pick this little gizmo up when I got my snake