Well first off, you want to take the temp reading from the floor of the tank on the glass, not on top of the substrate as the snake will push the substrate aside. As for the heat, I would drop that down to closer to 90F as most UTHs aren't 100% exactly even on the heating so you will find some spots a couple degrees higher and a couple degrees cooler. That's why 90F is a good point as it the median.
As for heat sources, if your room is above 75F, then just a UTH should work fine. If your room drops under 75F, then you will need a radiant heat panel. I personally just use flexwatt on all my cages except 1 which I use a RHP because it has one already installed. I keep my house set to 75F and the snakes are in the basement which is actually a little warmer so their cool sides sit at around 78-80F.
Oh and the Animal Plastics cages aren't tanks. They are PVC cages. Really awesome bang for the buck. If you do need a radiant heat panel, check out Pro Products or Reptile Basics. And if you do buy one, you can have them drop ship it to Animal Plastics and they will install it for you and route a channel for the wiring for it. Just have to call Animal Plastics and talk to Ali so they know to expect it and stuff.
Depending how tight funds are, my advice is a T10 for a BP and get the shelf. But if funds are tight, a T8 will work fine too and you don't have to have a shelf. just I know my BP and all my snakes do make use of the shelf at night. A lock is nice too as it's only $20 extra but again, if on a budget, you can bend a coat hanger into a shape that works well as a lock. I have to find that as I didn't bother keeping the thread as I always get locks, shelves, flexwatt and LED lighting install in my Ap cages.
And if you are looking to get the LED lighting installed by them, its $40 but not listed on their website so you have to call Ap and talk to Ali and have her add it to your order.
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