I'm having temp problems and need advice

[Bogertophis]

Thank you all for the advice, I have set up the terrarium as you told me to. But there is one thing that I'm not certain on. You said to set the thermostat for the heat mat so the enclosure floor is 90°. Did you mean the bottom of the terrarium or on the substrate? Because I set it for the bottom of the tank and it doesn't seem to be getting hot enough. And both sides of the terrarium are staying at the same temp. Should I just poke some holes on the cold side to let some heat out?

The actual floor- bottom of terrarium- in case (or more likely "when") your snake pushes the substrate aside & lays there for a while, you want the temperature to be safe, not causing a thermal burn.

Hint: more heat will rise into the terrarium if the substrate is not overly-deep- especially over the UTH; the type of substrate also influences this, some (like the various kinds of mulch) is more dense & acts more like insulation- actually preventing the heat from rising where your snake needs it, & you want to avoid that.

I've been using UTH for literally decades, but I'm not (currently) a BP-keeper. One thing I've used for other snakes as substrate (like the BCI I kept) is indoor-outdoor carpet, like this stuff from Home Depot- as it allows heat to EASILY rise thru it. (Sold by the foot, easily cut to fit! & pretty cheap too)

https://www.homedepot.com/p/TrafficM...144H/203240740

This is just me, thinking "outside the box" as I do with my own snakes...I'm not making a recommendation here, but if you're having trouble getting the heat to rise into the terrarium, obviously you need to fix that. The backless & washable carpet won't add or subtract any humidity, but what if you just used a piece under the warm 'hide', so the warmth goes where it should? Just a thought, okay? Snakes love the traction, heat rises right up thru it easily. You can maintain the humidity with other substrate in the rest of the terrarium, OR with a "humid hide".