[Ozric Jonathan]

Hi there. 32c is in my opinion right. If its higher the tortoise will normally move away from the hotspot. By raising the lamp you can warm a larger area. The ambient temperature does need to be adequate but I find anything over 20c is a waste.

The digestive and other systems are running well when a hermann can get itself up to 32c which is what we're aiming to achieve. Heating the substrate or the air to 32 will enable the tortoise to do this, but is not the actual goal. If you are using an infra red thermometer that's ideal because you can take the temp of the animal when its in basking mode. If your setup allows the tortoise to choose to get itself up to 32c then that's good.

Personally I don't put a slate directly under a lamp because it can get incredibly hot. A tortoise won't usually burn itself on a hot slate but it just might.

I'd say that a thermostat itself is often not accurate when used as a thermometer.

BTW what set-up did you go for Shelley?

Hope this helps a bit!