Quote Originally Posted by lord jackel
Two things...first the substrate is just to catch feces and urine so it doesn't need to be that thick...maybe 1/2" at most...second it will take some time for the pad to heat the substrate up so it may start out at 80 but eventually will get much closer to the pad temp (no the same but close)...so I recommend you get a reostat or Thermostat to regulate the pads temp (even though it seems like you don't need it yet...you will)
I heard snakes like to burrow...is a ball python one of the exceptions to that? If so then that makes sense...I could take a 1/2 inch of substrate out and see what happens....I have had it plugged in for awhile with the probe sitting on top of the substrate and it has raised the temperature up to 86.5 degrees....but it's been at that temperature for awhile now so I think that's about as hot as it will get on the surface. So I will try taking a 1/2 inch of the substrate out and seeing how that affects it....if it still isn't up to around 92 degrees then do you suggest getting a ceramic heat lamp to combine with the under tank heating pad?

As I mentioned before...the pad got to about 105 degrees when I tested it...but with the substrate acting as a barrier...if, let says, the highest temperature that will be on the surface is 88-89 degrees....even though the pad itself is around 105 degrees, then why would I still need to get a thermostat? I thought I needed one of those only if the heat was getting too hot....so it could keep it at the right temperature...but if the heat isn't hot enough because of the substrate lessening it then wouldn't a thermostat be useless?

And my humidity reading right now is 42%...all I have in the tank is 1 inch of substrate...and a water dish.