Flex watt heat tape and storage bin

First off this is my first snake so forgive me for all the noob questions. I'm trying to put together a tank, well actually a storage bin for my snake. I invested in some heat tape and a controller but have a question. Do I mount to heat tape directly to the tub or go make a wood plank for the tub to sit on with the tape mounted to the wood? I bought some medzoo carpet to put on the bottom. It's about a 1/8 of an inch thick. Should I double it up to keep from burning the snake or is that not a worry with heat tape? One more question, how do I add photos to this post?

You can mount the heat tape directly to the tub and it has to be controlled by a thermostat or a dimmer. As long as you get the temp to around 90 degrees, your snake will be fine. And that's 90 degrees measured directly from the surface of the tub, without the substrate. Invest in a temp gun, as well. It'll make dialing in your setup a lot easier.

Yes directly on the bin is fine. That said I would NOT recommend flexwatt. It is used primarily in racks and actually can get hotter than it is safe for direct connection. Commercial UTH (zoo med or ultratherm) are better in every way for a direct connection to a tub. Both these products max out below flexwatts temp often below the danger point for a burn as well. This adds an extra level of safety that flexwatt does not offer.