I personally would not put towels in an enclosure. I feel like if they got wet they would mold really fast. Same goes for the reptile carpet. That stuff is NIGHTMARE to clean. No matter how much you scrub it, it will always smell off and still hold bacteria. I prefer paper towels or aspen.

I would opt for a thermostat rather than a rheostat. From what it sounds like, your temps fluctuate in the room and that + rheostat = constantly adjusting and crazy heat spikes. The cheapest thermostat is the reptitemp 500r available in some pet stores and online.

Also, it sounds like you are not getting accurate temps. Get some nice digital thermometers with a PROBE. This is very important so you can get accurate reading of the temps in the enclosure. Gauges and stick on thermometers can be off by 10*F which can be enough to COOK your snake. D:

I know it seems like your BP cruising around means he is happy with his surroundings but it is actually quite the opposite. A happy BP is a hiding BP. They spend about 90% of their time hiding. That is usually how I know that my snakes are settled, they stop cruising and start hiding.