Repositionable heat mats?

[Simland]

I'm testing things in that terrarium to see what works. I dug a hole in the substrate to "expose" the heat mat, but the mat barely got the glass to 27C (80F) and didn't seem to do anything for the air temp. I don't think it would work with any amount of substrate. Does this mean it's not working as well as it should? Ambient temps in that room right now are about 20-22C (68-71.6F).

Right now I'm trying the rock to raise the basking spot. With this, the basking surface is 30-32C (86-89.5F), but he doesn't seem to care and doesn't use it. Air temps remain low and he has not gotten his appetite back. There's no space on the basking spot for a hide, but there are hides in the warmer side and he doesn't seem to use them more than the ones on the cooler side, so this snake is still confusing me. Could it just be jaded?

What can you do for a "jaded" snake?

He always gets his appetite back eventually, but sometimes it's not quite enough for him to get back to its former weight...

P.S. I set up a 75W bulb on a temporary terrarium that is a regular 10 gallon aquarium and it barely gets the temperature to 25C (77F) with a 22C (71.6F) room temperature...something wrong with these bulbs?

[Simland]

Here's a related question.

I'm shopping for a terrarium for my new garter. Of the best two I can find, one comes with a bunch of stuff including 2 heat mats (one of which could be placed on my other terrarium since it doesn't look like it was ever stuck in place), lamps, etc. But it's the same height as the one I'm having problems with.

The second one is 12 inches tall. The ground surface is a bit bigger 3 feet by 1.5 feet (instead of 3 feet by 1 foot), but, at 12 inches seems a little low (is it just me?). The bummer is that it doesn't come with any heating stuff except a heating cord. No lamp, no heat mats.

Assuming that the mesh on the 12 inch high one can stand up to the heat of a heat lamp, does this one sound so much better than the other one that it's worth purchasing the rest separately? It's the type with front doors, if that makes a difference escape or care wise.

If I raise a third of the ground a few inches closer to the light on the warm side of the 18 inch tall terrariums (using a box lightly covered with substrate, or something), would that be better?

[Simland]

I think I have to say nevermind, regarding my question about the two terrariums. It's important for me to be able to disinfect terrarium properly between animals and I don't see how I could do that with one that has front doors. The only good method I know is to fill them up with a bleach solution and letting them sit for 20 minutes. That wouldn't work and I don't want to have to fill an entire bath tub with a bleach solution.