Just a note on the wood hides - raw milk is pasteurized at 145*F for 30 minutes to kill mold and bacteria so 2 hours at 250*F is overkill. I wouldn't use a temperature above 180*F, any higher and you risk any water left internally in the hide turning into steam, which will either crack it or make it go boom from the pressure build-up.

For your electric I would go: extension cord to surge protector to THERMOSTAT to UTH. That way if you want to plug in lights or other electronics near your tank, you just use the surge protector for more outlets and you're not running more extension cords.