I'm completely new to the reptile world. I bought a 6 month old ball python and brought him home this week on Tuesday. I set him up in a plastic tub enclosure with a heat mat covering 1/3 of his enclosure, 2 hides, a water bowl, greenery and a climbing log. We are using newspaper for substrate for now. I would say he's a confident ball python. He seems happy and is roaming about during the night and hiding away during the day. He's never curled up into a ball every time we've handled him so far. My problem that I'm having trouble with is obtaining an ambient temperature of 80 degrees which was suggested. I can only get it up to 75. Should I get another plastic tub and drill holes differently to retain heat? My humidity level is around 60 degrees which is good I think. Should I invest in a ceramic heat transmitter ? How would I set that up?

Please note that I live in New England, so our winters are cold and dry but our summers are hot and humid.

Any words of wisdom and advice would be greatly appreciated.