Stuck on what to do for housing...

[distaff]

1/4" hardware cloth, tin snips, a drill, and small zip ties, and a sharp box cutter.
The lids don't cut easily, and be careful about cutting yourself, but the project isn't too difficult. Bug people do those sort of projects all the time, and tubs altered this way are how I keep my rats.

Fold back the edges of the hardware cloth so there are no exposed sharp edges to injure you or the snake.

[Jakethesnake69]

I guess I’m bored so I’m overthinking I’m sure. If you want to go the cheapest route then reinforcing the current lid would be how I would do it. Just so it elevates any sag and will maybe get your latching feature back.
However the depth of tub being used is important. If it’s a shallow tub I would go the route of two UTH’s and probably insulating tub as mentioned and covering existing hole. The box with foam peanuts is a good idea.
If it’s a deep tub like 11”+ or 30+ cm the lamp would be my go too. Since it’s already in play. If there is no screen that should be addressed. There should be no way the snake could ever make contact with the lamp heat source. They get really hot. My CHE’s see temps over 200 degrees when on. Maybe with a pulse thermometer the lamp setup won’t go higher than setting but on/off type get hot.

[sufficio]

Thank you guys for all your ideas! We were out all day doing errands and also ended up on a solution suggested by a couple people. So here's what we ended up with:

It's not exactly pretty, but darn if it doesn't work. So we have a hole cut where the lamp heats which prevents the sag and a wire lid zip tied on to help with the structural integrity so the cat walking won't effect it. Also helps because we were having trouble with the humidity being a little too much, so the hole will be great. Thanks very much for all your suggestions, I will definitely keep them in mind for future alterations!
(Ps- don't worry, all plastic edges are sanded down to a smooth edge, and there is no space for him to squeeze between the plastic and wire)

[sufficio]

Btw- for using a second UTH or CHE or something- we did consider it but the tub is quite tall(has a ton of floor space as well) and he utilizes the height with the sticks we have secured in, so a second UTH wouldn't effectively boost the ambient temps enough, I think. If it was a shorter tub then it would definitely work though.

And as you can see we already have to use foam on the sides! Chilly canadian basement haha. When winter sets in fully we basically surround the box in foam

[Jakethesnake69]

Not bad, effective and creative. Two thumbs up. It’s a tub so not much on pretty anyways.

[Techbunneh]

1/4" hardware cloth, tin snips, a drill, and small zip ties, and a sharp box cutter.
The lids don't cut easily, and be careful about cutting yourself, but the project isn't too difficult. Bug people do those sort of projects all the time, and tubs altered this way are how I keep my rats.

Fold back the edges of the hardware cloth so there are no exposed sharp edges to injure you or the snake.

That's a very true point. When I had my tarantula (may she RIP) I used to use this method to cut vent holes. Biggest difference was I could use a mesh drain thing instead of gluing it.