When a probe is placed outside like on the bottom of a tub or cage, it will always be a few degrees off from the inside temp as it needs to heat through the cage flooring. I have flexwatt on all my cages and I have it set to 100F to get a 90F temp on the inside floor of my AP cages. That's normal and not off. The trick is you dial in the Herpstat temp setting with an IR gun on the cage floor inside the cage.