need help

new to snakes just got a bp few weeks ago.he is just over yr old around 30".. now i got a 50 gal aquairium i am using a uth it is 10 by 11 i believe it is the bigest they had..had tank up well before i got snake.Put tinfoil and duck tape on screen with a opening for air. temps were not to bad 89 to 91 on hot side middle is about82 and cold end is around 76-80..humidity is steady 56 - 58%..now all of a sudden temps drop like bare 80 on hot side at night 78 in the middle 76 cold side.i use a reostat i guess it is called like dimmer swith thought maybe it was bad so pluged uth into wall didn’t make any difference.. weather is getting cooler at night so thinking might have some thing to do with this as tank is by out side wall and there is window there to..going to move tank to different wall.. read that tank might be to big but he doesn’t seem to mind he will move around take at night and seems to like the cool side ..the hide i got with him is way to big i think like lift it and he is only using half of it.. it is low but wide.. and he will curl up on cool side not use hide..he seems healthy like eats good i think ..eats 2 f/t adult mice a week? would really appreciate any help on heating up tank..thinking of trying flex but not sure

Well, that 50gal is gonna be a beast to keep warm in the winter. It can be done, if you want to put enough effort and creative thinking into it...but it will be challenging.


It could be any number of things causing the temps to drop. If you're dead set on keeping that tank, you might consider ordering enough flexwatt to heat the entire thing. One big piece to keep the "cool" side warm enough, and one smaller piece to create a warm basking end. And you'll need at least one thermostat (used in conjunction with a rheostat) to make this setup work...but it would be far better with two separate thermostats.