Sorry, this is a little :-offtopic from what you orrigionally asked, and heil, your method sounds is great and very detailed, but the mention of duct tape conjured up some memories of a bad past experience. I just felt uneasy NOT sharing.
[*]Taped pieces of heavy-duty duct tape or gaffers tape around the hole just created to prevent puncture of probe wire.
I used duct tape once to secure a fake plant to the side of one of my snake's kritter keepers. I don't have much luck with the suction cups, and I didn't want to permanently fix the plant to the tank. Everything was just fine and dandy for awhile, but at some point (I believe it was months after), the snake got stuck to the duct tape. I'm not sure if the duct tape started to lose its adhesiveness eventually and became unstuck to the back, or if the snake was just that persistent, but the adhesive quality was definitely still strong enough to stick to the snake.
About 10-20 VERY stressful minutes and a lots of vegetable oil later the snake was finally unstuck, but I will never use duct tape in any of my vivs ever again.
Is there any other kind of sealant you could use in place of duct tape for anyone who wants to follow heli's method? I suppose if you used something like that though you'd have to wait for it to cure and also research if the substance emited any fumes when it was heated up.
Alrighty, I know that had nothing to do with your original question, I just wanted to add my 2 cents to potentially save a snake and his/her owner from going through the same experience. :sidestep:
To get slightly back on topic, I'll leave you with this thought: Having a probe is great and necessary, but it is also really nice to have a heat temp radar gun. You can buy them anywhere, they're relatively inexpensive, and you can instantly check the temperatures anywhere in your snake's viv. They can't regulate the heat for you obviously, but it's a great way to check the temps inside your snakes hides and just have the peace of mind in about 2 seconds.
Alright, that's enough out of me!! :crazy02: :smash: