Hello all! New to the forum, and new to snakes as well! I'm hoping to get my first snake, either a ball python or a corn snake, sometime this year.

I'm going to have an empty glass tank shortly, as the current resident is getting a major upgrade, so I was hoping to use the tank for my future snake. I've put together a whole reading/watch list for myself on all the pros/cons/how to set up a tank correctly, and I'm still working through that before I make any decisions about using a tank for the enclosure. That said, there's a couple things that I don't think my reading list is going to cover, due to the specific tank I have, and I was hoping folks here could give me their thoughts.

1. I'm trying to figure out if I can even have a suitable lid with this tank for a snake. I know you're generally supposed to secure or latch the lid in some way. I'm pretty sure, because it is an old tank (and from what I've read), that any lid bought from my local pet store isn't going to fit onto it correctly/or that I'm just not gonna be able to secure it. How strong is an adult ball python, in terms of pushing a lid straight up? I'm including photos of what the current lid looks like.



One way or another, I gotta clean up and modify this lid a bit before another critter goes into that tank, be it rodent or reptile.
Related to the lid, how much ventilation should a snake generally have/need?

2. Does anyone have any idea if a UTH would work with a metaframe's slate bottom?