My dad and I are currently trying to find an alternate solution to heating my bedroom to 78F for my ball python's ambient temps since I'm finding that a bit too warm. I was originally planning to cut a hole in the lid of the tub, glue down a wire mesh, and put a ceramic heat emitter on top of it, but my dad says this won't be very effective since most of the heat and humidity will escape through the wire mesh in the lid.

He's suggesting putting the ceramic heat emitter inside the tub and building a wooden guard around it so the snake can't touch it, or by mounting the CHE sideways on one side of the tub and separating it from the area the snake can reach by building a wooden wall with holes in it.

I have never seen anything like what he is suggesting done before, so I was wondering if anyone has any thoughts on if this would work, or why not if it wouldn't?

On another note, how are those of you using CHEs for ambient temps ensuring that the temperature is correct? Does your thermostat measure ambient temperatures or the CHE temp, and how is it installed?