You need to have something sitting on the bottom of the tank to measure the heat being put out by the UTH. They can get hot enough to burn snakes, so you also need a thermostat to control that output.Originally Posted by beachvibesbyeff
Personally, I use Acurite thermometer/hygrometers from Walmart. They cost around $12 and have a probe that can be placed over the UTH. You can get a dimmer switch to control the UTH until you can afford a good thermostat, if needed.