I would not put it in until you get something to regulate it they get really hot and will burn the snake. There are alot of different thermostats you can get it depends how much you want to spend. zoomed reptitherm 500r is about 25-30 bucks cheap but it works same with the rheostat cheap but works. Or you can get a ranco or johnson they are a bit more but are good quality. then there is the helix and herpstats which are proportional thermostats and cost the most but are well worth it i would say herpstat is the best. But only having one snake you will be ok with a ranco or johnson go