My worry is that when I set the basking site for 29-32 then my cool end will be around 22/23 degrees rather than 25? Is that an issue?
No. As I said, I've seen wild hatchling Antaresia actively foraging in the low 20s. It's normal for natural temperatures in Antaresia distribution to fall below this even in summer. 22 isn't enough to hurt them, it's not even cold enough to stop them hunting/exploring. It's absolutely essential that for at least some of the day they can get warmer than this, and if they're spending time forced to be in the low 20s (which you should never do to hatchlings as a beginner keeper) then they need to be able to spend a fair bit of time per day in the 30s (this isn't 100% essential if they spend most of their time in the mid to high 20s, but as a beginner you shouldn't be using this sort of temperature regime, I'm just discussing it to show you want they can and do cope with naturally, and yes, I've kept them in similarly natural temperature treatments with good results).
By the way, you don't have a basking site and I'd never use them for Antaresia. This term gets misused fairly commonly by reptile keepers these days, but it doesn't mean 'hot spot', it specifically means somewhere they can bask in sunlight or simulated sunlight (such as from a spotlight). Basking spots involve radiant heat. You're using contact heat (conductive heat in a scientific sense).
Thermometers:
- I have a digital multimeter secured beneath the warm hide now. (of the three layers of paper towel this is just beneath the top layer (so closest to the snake).
- I have a dual thermometer.
- And a small, pocket-sized infrared thermometer that had a disclaimer that it's readings could differ 2 degrees.
I find that the digital multimeter is the most reliable but can't use it in any or the other places because i've secured it beneath the hot hide to maintain the temp there.
Beneath the hot hide I have about 32 degrees (31-33 of divergence) but on the rest of the hot side it doesn't exceed 30 (usually sticks around 28/29, sometimes 27). Is that a problem?
I didn't quite follow that. Sounds okay though.
As for the water, while I obviously haven't watched him 24/7, he hasn't moved in all the times I have observed so the only reasonable conclusion I could draw was that he hadn't had anything to drink in almost 48hrs. Now he's under the warm hide and rather than the cool hide and he isn't moving from there. I can't decide if he's just enjoying the warmth or if something is wrong - I know they're supposed to move between hides on a regular.
How do you know he hasn't moved? Snakes typically find one or more primary retreats and spend most of their time there. In captivity they'll usually have one main one. In the wild they'll often have different ones seasonally or depending on weather. If they want something like a drink, they'll go out for a drink and then go back to the retreat, sort of like how I went shopping last night and came home, I'll be home all day today, I'll go out shopping for food whenever I do and will then immediately come home. If you just happened to check my location twice and saw that both times I was at home, you could assume I never went out for food. Back when I was younger, less familiar with snake movement patterns and probably far more interested in learning trivial details than I am now, I used to do things like putting a hair (I had lovely long, thin hair at the time, so mine worked perfectly) over the snake and I could see if the snake had moved, or I'd sprinkle some dust or put tiny pebbles on the snakes to see when they'd moved. I found pythons would often go wandering and come back, they rarely sat still for to long, but others were more sedentary. The most impressive were the Death Adders which would sometimes sit for literally months without moving, but the entire time were ready to strike faster than the human eye could see, the very moment I put a rat within striking distance. Either way, if you have water available, a python will go get a drink when it's thirsty.
If you're dealing with a snake which is having trouble settling in, one of the worst things you can do is check on it multiple times per day. If the snake has settled into a pattern of eating reliably and is calm when you check on it (some people can observe this easily, others need some experience or training to recognise a calm vs. stressed snake at a glance), then sure, look at it, play with it, etc etc as much as you want.
