should i blow the pic's up? i might be able to salvage quality...

Right now its a 50g glass tank with an Exotera Desert Large UTH. He has one hide on the hot side and a water dish on the other. I noticed he was hiding in a corner not under his hide or anything and figured it was probably because he was uncomfortable in some way. It has cooled off here recently and I figured his new corner was because his temps were bad.

I put a 75w heat light on top and a towel on top of the screen covering about 80 % of it (the uncovered portion has the heat light). He is much more active now and hides in the correct spot and thermoregulates and such. I have a strip thermometer right near the substrate on the hot side but not directly above the UTH (and it reads like 77 which is grossly inaccurate because by touched the substrate i can feel that its warmer than 77).

The same day I put the heat light on I thought maybe the bottom was just really dry and my humidity might be low so I soaked him for about 20-30 min. I figured it couldn't hurt any. I let him run through a slightly damp washcloth a few times and then a dry towel before returning him to his cage.

Like i said its a pretty bad setup. Today my intentions are to go out and buy a thermo/hygrometer and put it on the hot side in order to at least get some accurate readings. Once I have accurate readings I will be able to get a thermostat (or at least a dimmer) in order to adjust stuff accordingly. I have been reading all the tank setup stuff and didnt want to bog everybody down asking questions that have already been answered. I think have a good grasp on how I need to get the tank set up and I just haven't had the time (or $) to get it done.

Thanks for any advice,

Sam (and George)