Well I know the title sounds a little confusing, but here's what I'm trying to do. I just built a rack out of melamine that I will be moving my snakes into here shortly. I am using back heat because it works best for my situation at the moment. You know how the tubs have handles on them so the lids can snap on? Well has anyone trimmed off one of those handles with say a sander or anything to get it to fit closer to the heat tape, thus being able to set the t-stat to a lower temperature to achieve an optimum temp inside the tub?

This is just something that came across my mind as I was thinking of any modifications I can do to my rack. What do you guys think?