Good Morning All,

I hope everyone is having a great New Year so far, I have a quick question about thermostat probe placement.

I recently setup a new terrarium for my BEL in a Exo Terra 36" x 18" x 18" with proper heat mat, two hides on each side, herptopia all natural coconut fiber bedding, small water bowl, driftwood for climbing and shedding. All is good with the terrarium so far and the temps for ambient air are 82 on the warm side and about 76 on the cool side with 60% humidity throughout the terrarium.

I purchased a thermostat for the warm side and placed the probe right below the substrate layer under the warm side hide. Do you think this is the proper placement or should it be placed right on the top and not covered?

Just checking because I have it set to 91 degrees, but my temp gun is reading a surface temp of only about 85 degrees. Snake is acting fine, he usually hides on the cool side during the day and then goes into the warm hide at night. I've had him about a week now and he has eaten once this past Sunday and I have found two places he defecated.

I just like to make sure my setup is perfect for whatever animal I am taking care of.

Thanks for any help in advance.