Quick Thermostat Question

[Trisnake]

Hey guys, so I'm helping my boyfriend set up a terrarium for a ball python he's getting this weekend. Everything is set up nicely, hides and humidity are great as well as ambient, the only issue I'm having is some discrepancies with what my Jumpstart thermostat reads and what my temp gun AND probed thermometer read. It's been a while since I've set up a terrarium for any sort of reptiles (my last being a leopard gecko several years ago) so I'm wondering if I'm doing something wrong.

Basically, I have a medium-low exoterra with an 11x11 reptile basics heat mat (probed and controlled with a Jumpstart thermostat) taped to the underneath of the cage on the hot side. After a couple days use and temps not reading what I want them to be (thermostat saying 92 while my probed thermo and temp gun say 78) I felt underneath the tank and the aluminum tape I had used to secure the heat pad has peeled and essentially allowed the thing to hang down, not transferring heat to the cage. To remedy this I cut pieces of styrofoam to (roughly) fit the underneath of the tank and slid them under to hold the heat mat flush against the glass, since we had already set the cage up with substrate and hides in order to get temps and humidity perfect in advance and didn't want to dump everything out. Since I did that yesterday with the styrofoam the temps have gotten much better but my Jumpstart is still reading much warmer than my temp gun and probed thermometer are. I touched the glass directly above the heat mat, underneath the substrate, and it feels too cool, but I lifted the cage once more to check if maybe the styrofoam had gotten caught on an inner lip and was allowing a gap and don't think that's the case.

Currently my Jumpstart is set to 94 and is reading 92.4.
My dual thermometer/hygrometer is reading 78.1 on the cool side and 89.4 on the warm side, probe sitting above the substrate.
The glass underneath the substrate on the hot side reads 82.9, leading me to believe the temp of the surface substrate is due to a heat lamp being used to control ambient. The lamp has been on full blast lately as I've been trying to correct the temperatures.

Do you think there is a problem with my thermostat, possibly my heat mat? Am I doing anything wrong? Thought I would ask before I dismantle the thing and flip it over to see what (if anything) is causing a gap.

Thanks in advance

[dr del]

Hi,

I just set the thermostat to what it takes to get the temps right inside and then remember to check if it changes with house ambients. The temp it has to be set at to get the internal temps right doesn't really bother me at all.

[Trisnake]

Hi,

I just set the thermostat to what it takes to get the temps right inside and then remember to check if it changes with house ambients. The temp it has to be set at to get the internal temps right doesn't really bother me at all.

But for me to set the temp on my thermostat at 100 and have the glass it's pressed flush against read 82? I wouldn't think that's supposed to be the case but maybe I'm wrong... I had messed with the cage yesterday to try and correct the issue, I thought maybe the temp probe being between the glass and heat mat was causing too much of a gap so I untaped everything and re-setup the UTH to be completely flush against the glass with the probe taped securely underneath the pad. Ended up finding out after flipping the cage over that the aluminum tape HADNT peeled and that wasn't the issue with my temp problems, I still decided to redo it just incase. I also doctored the styrofoam to fit the underneath of the cage perfectly now, so there's no real room for gaps... I just don't understand what could be going wrong. I figured maybe one of thermometers is calibrated wrong but before accidentally dropping a roll of electrical tape on my hygrometer/thermometer when I was dismantling the cage (causing it to turn off and turn back on) all of my thermometers/thermostats synced up. Now they read:

-76.1 cool and 98.8 hot displayed on the dual hygrometer/thermometer.
-Measured the temperature of the temp probe connected to the hygro/thermo (the one giving the 98.8 reading) and it's coming back at 82 (measured via IR temp gun).
-Temp of the glass inside the tank directly above the heat mat and next to the temp probe measured 82 via IR temp gun.
-Thermostat is currently at 97 (set to 100) and the heat pad is reading 92 measured via IR Temp Gun.

My boyfriend seems to think it's the temp gun that's off, thoughts on that?

Thanks for the reply. All quick responses (and responses in general) are greatly appreciated, I'm just really trying to figure this crap out before we get the snake tomorrow...

[CALM Pythons]

It sounds like your doing exactly what your suppose to.
Mine is basically the same. My Tstat under UTH and use Aluminum tape to fasten...
Thermometer probe under thin substrate on Hotside (I use silicone to hold probe and wire) and the Head unit placed on cool side to read ambient & Humidity.
My Tstat is set to 98 on my UTH, thermometer probe reads 92/93 & when checking with Laser ontop of my paper substrate its 89/90...
Also keep in mind each thermistat can be 1-3 degrees off.. So keep substate paper thin in hot spot so you get the best idea of what your snakes basking temp is...
As far as ambient, i keep my thermometer head unit about 3" off the floor of the enclosure cool side so it reads ambiemt down low where snakes spend their time.
My thermometers have all 3 displayed.. Probe=Hot side/Head unit=cool side & Humidity.