Quote Originally Posted by Sauzo View Post
Heat tape is not going to be consistent temp across the whole tape. That is the only downfall to it. You need to just temp gun the inside floor of the cage/tub all around where the heat tape is and just set up a happy median. It is going to be a little hotter in some spots and cooler in others. In all my cages, the flexwatt varies from 84-90F. The snakes will find a spot they like on it and sit there. And then move off when they are warm enough.

You can also move the probe to the hottest spot and set the temp from there if you want.

And to answer your question, are you taking the reading from the exact same spot as the probe at a distance of less than 1 inch? Try temp gunning the probe itself right on top of it. Also, maybe the temp gun is off. Try putting a temp gauge probe on the same spot next to the Herpstat probe. See if they are close.
Temps are good inside the cage but was just wondering if there should be a difference. I found some stuff and I guess, the air temp also affects the probe which makes sense because probe isn't wrapped around the heat tape. So I guess probe is considering heat tape itself and air around it which should be perfectly fine.
I guess I found the reason.