I was keeping my cold side at 72, I just increased it to 75F just because I like a warmer snake room LOL. Hot spot is 88F. I keep the snakes directly on the tub bottom with no substrate between the snake and the bottom of the tub. When they make a mess they crawl up on the Reptichip on the cold side away from it until I can get in there and spot clean the back of the tub LOL. Everyone seems to be feeding just fine, and my first pair looks like they may have some eggs real soon! I've heard that anything 95F or higher can make your males temporarily sterile, so don't get too high... My snakes usually always hang out on the hot side unless its right before feeding time, then they tend to wander.