I removed the heating pad out since it seems too dangerous to leave on, especially overnight when we can't check it hourly. Yes, the bulb is a basking/heating bulb. At night we swap out the daytime white bulb for a 60w red nighttime bulb. Good to know about the temp gun and thermostat- I'll head out today and buy the temp gun. Thanks so much for the suggestions!

And thanks for the link to the lamp stand. I'll order that asap. =)