Two heat mats needed for plastic tub set up?

Does anyone else have to use two heat mats to get proper temperatures on a plastic tub? I currently house our ball python in a 41 quart tub (Iris Weathertight brand,about 24” X 18”). My problem is with the cool side. The warm side of the tub stays around 90 degrees, but the cool side is closer to 70 instead of 80. I decided to put a second heat mat with a separate thermostat on the cool side to keep it closer to 80 degrees. Is there a better way to handle this? Or should I stick with my two heat mat plan? Our snake seems happy. He's eating fine and doesn't seem stressed. I just want to make sure he's warm enough. :)

During the cooler season if your house is not in the mid 70's the cheapest most efficient way if you only have one tub will be 2 heat mats and 2 t-stat or 1 t-stat if you have the herpstat 2.

The other option is a oil filled heater to keep the room in the mid 70's however it is only cost effective if you have a room full a snake, for 1 snake it would be rather inefficient and expensive.

A friend keeps his ball python in a 40-breeder setup. During the winter his house also is fairly cold so he does exactly what you've done: two heat mats, one at 90*F, the other at 82*F.

Also what I did before I switched to commercial racks. Something that worked for me with a homemade tub rack system was a herpstat 2 with a power strip in each output, one strip being for all the cold side mats and the other for the warm side. Double check your wattage and temps but this system worked well for me for about 3 years until I switched to commercial to save space.

Off topic, a bit. Apologies for drifting the thread, but would two separately regulated mats also be suitable for a boa, or are boas too active to remain content in hides most of the time?

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Originally Posted by distaff

Off topic, a bit. Apologies for drifting the thread, but would two separately regulated mats also be suitable for a boa, or are boas too active to remain content in hides most of the time?

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I use the two heat pad approach for both my BP and new Boa. It gives me piece of mind that both surface temps are where they need to be. My only concern has been ambients when they are in the mid to low 70s which I’ve learned to accept that it isn’t too much of a big deal. Both snakes seem to be doing well with this approach.

I do, on set for the hot and one for the cool but for my Boas. Running them both gives me the temps I’m looking for as well as ambient is good as well.

Extra heat mats and t-stats getting ordered tomorrow, on the first of the month. In addition to the original UTH, I installed a Reptile Basics RHP on the ceiling of the Corn viv, and he has a magnetic faux rock ledge underneath to bask. I siliconed another RHP to the back wall of the Sonoran Gopher's viv (top slides out, so couldn't hang it from there). Her current UTH is the smallest size, and too small at this point anyway - she is a BIG girl. This snake could use something larger than a 40L, but that will have to wait for a bit.

I'll set up the hatchling BP with two mats, and the incoming dwarf boa the same.

Thanks, guys.

Thank you to everyone for your replies! I have learned so much from this forum and appreciate everyone's input.

I'm having the same issue. I ended up with a tub with two separate heat mats, but I still can't get the ambient temperature up much at all. How do you raise the ambient without making the mats hot enough to burn her?