Quick lighting and heating questions

[TRD]

I tend to disagree... reptiles need a high surface temperature to digest and get their bodily processes going. Just turning off the heat because 80 F is hot enough isn't correct. They bask in nature on much higher surface temperatures typically provided in captivity because people tend to focus on ambient temperatures instead of surface temperatures. Even when using a temp gun they tend to measure their hot side right under the light and dial it back to the suggested ambient temperature for that species.

It is fundamentally wrong to confuse surface temperature on the basking area with required ambient temperature.

Go take your temp gun outside on a sunny day with a known ambient temperature and go shoot a piece of rock or whatnot laying in the sun.

My kingsnake that everyone's caresheet and their caresheet moms say should have a "hot side at 85 - 88 F"

My snake does nothing at that temp, nada.

Now I keep my hotside at 97 F, he's basking for hours now. He's more active (ie- reactive) than ever. More "snakey" in lack of a better word. I got to that temp simply by comparing real world temperatures between ambient temp and surface temp on different parts of the day (these were on late afternoon on a typical 83 F day, surfaces in the sun were about 95 - 97 F). Ambient is still in range of 80 - 82 F.

And it doesn't freak out the temperatures on the entire viv. The only reason why high surface temperatures aren't easily achievable in a closed space is because of ventilation. you provide ventilation, through an actual fan that gives you airflow, and all your heating problems go away as long as the room's ambient temperature is in check.