Soaking Kaa (help?)

[KayleighBrown]

Okay so here is the deal. I'm very paranoid. Yes paranoid. I don't know if that is a bad thing, but I'm trying to keep cool and not lose my head. I had already soaked Kaa and let him swim around a bit, he was very dry feeling, and after the soak he felt more soft and smooth, yet he didn't poop like I had hoped he would.

I'm very scared of soaking my snakes, especially Kaa being he's already going through a bad start. I fear URI's happening, granted to my luck it hasn't happened yet. Kaa is in a 10gal tank which was used for mice at one time and his top doesn't lock, then again he isn't strong enough to get out. My other two tanks that I use for Sampson and Anastasia have screen tops that do lock. But I hate them! I absalutely 100% HATE them. They don't keep humidity in, even after I put foil on top with spaces cut out for the heat lamps and for ventilation, it just doesn't keep humidity, and I don't want a whole lot of it, I just want it to last a bit longer.

We recently had plastic put up over our windows in our living area, and kitchen, which has done well to keep heat locked in a bit better, but the thing is, my snakes being in our bedroom, it either gets too hot for them, or too cold. I bought a zilla thermostat which has done its job at keeping Kaa's zoo med heat pad from getting too hot, but the fact that it shuts on and off, really irritates the crap out of me. Kaa doesn't use his hot spot, he's always on the cold side, or ontop of his hide where the heat lamp shines down on it.

I just don't know what to do any further about it. I intend at some point to get Anastasia a bigger tank, so I can move Sampson into hers, and then Kaa into sampsons and get rid of my 10gal. Looking at all these terrarium tanks, and all glass tanks, they're too expensive and I can't afford any, and it's really frustrating to see them at petco and go "Oh that would be perfect for them! Awww but we're too poor to buy one right now" so we're stuck with the tanks we've got.

We love our snakes and have been working as best as we could budget wise to get what is best for them, and lately, I've been thinking bad about myself lately, like I'm not good enough to own any reptiles because of things like this. But I don't want to give up and risk hurting myself by giving up on my dream of becoming a breeder some day.

I really wish there were some helpful tips on what I can do to make my snakes more comfortable and happy.