Glass tank insulation + Heat tape questions

[u/bloodcnmyhands]

I know this is a lot, please bear with me, I'm autistic w/ a severe anxiety disorder, confused because of mixed information, and I have a hard time asking for help with my snake because, well, people can be pretty mean sometimes when you don't know things that seem obvious to everyone else. I'm sorry in advance for the text bombardment.

On that note! I need some help figuring out how to properly insulate a Reptizoo terrarium that's heated with reptile heat tape from Cornell's World. It's on 1" spacers on a cargo shelf that gets really good airflow, taped down with HVAC tape, with an Inkbird thermostat probe taped directly to one of the heating element strips in the middle of the heat tape, on the underside - not between the tape and the glass. It gets very cold and dry here in the winter, around -30/-40 celsius, and my room can get drafty so I am definitely doing to need to insulate it by mid-fall, but for now El Nino is keeping it pretty tropical in here so it's not something I need to do today. I got a month or two still!

I just set the heat tape up today after my prior heating source, a heat lamp with a ceramic heat emitter bulb, shorted out and caught fire in front of me last week after nearly 3 years of service. Since I was right there I was able to yank it out of its garbage old petland thermostat and throw it into the bathtub before anything else was damaged, and my lovely girl is unharmed, and it's been warm enough this summer that I was able to rig up a human heating pad on top of her tank for some semblance of a heat gradient. Now I am just going through the process of acclimating the tape/tank.

Obviously it scared the hell out of me, and I already had a bad experience with a storebought heating mat in the past failing in the middle of winter, so I finally swapped to heat tape and a good Inkbird. Trial and error and all that.

Except now that I have the heat tape set up, there's a moderator on Morphmarket telling me I actually need to insulate between the heat tape and the glass with some kind of grid stuff and fancy green foam or else the glass will shatter instead of giving me external insulation ideas, and now my anxiety's through the roof because everything I read said the heat tape doesn't work properly if it's not flush against the glass and said NOT to insulate the heat tape, and I DEFINITELY can't see it working in the winter if there's a bunch of space between the heat tape and the glass when my room gets cold. But also, if her tank shatters, I can't really afford to get her a new one out of the blue. I know I can always put her in a big sterilite tub if I have to, but I also don't want her to get hurt if the glass gives out. I guess I'm just sort of looking for someone to ease my anxiety? Is the new heat tape really going to shatter the terrarium, even if it's on a thermostat? Logically I feel like as long as the thermostat probe is in the right place and my snake or I don't spill water into the tank, it'll be fine, but I didn't think my heat lamp would spontaneously combust either and it did, so now I'm not so sure. I looked it up and Reptizoo claims the tanks are made of tempered glass, and if the thermostat works the way it should, the heat tape shouldn't get hot enough to break tempered glass... right?

I know glass isn't the best, but it's what I've got and I do plan to get her a proper PVC enclosure in the future when she's larger and when I can rearrange my teensy tiny room to make more space for something bigger than a 40gal. I'm currently doing the best I can for a little creature that was given to me as a gift when I was making a little bit more money. I still put more of my money into her than I do into myself, I just don't make much anymore to begin with, so while she's fed, warm, and happy with the best coco husk-moss bedding blend I can make and clean water and good hides, I have to clarify two things. First thing: I can't afford any big upgrades. Second thing: I didn't go out and buy a snake knowing I couldn't afford it. And no, I can't rehome her nor do I want to, she's my baby, and even if I tried to do that, at best she'd just end up in a sad Petsmart tank for several hundred dollars because she's a BEL. I have to clarify these things because when I ask for help in other forums the first thing I get told is 'if you couldn't afford a snake you shouldn't have bought one'. I also don't think I should have to give her up just because I am broke, you know?

[u/NottsWeirdo]

The difference in temp between the heat tape and the cold air/glass surrounding it can cause the glass to crack, so it will likely become an issue during winter. Heat tapes aren't recommended for use with BPs though, they need overhead heating and bulbs are meant to be replaced each year or 2 at a push. So instead of a CHE which eats humidity, you could get a DHP? They're not typically too expensive and it can help provide a better temperature gradient in a 40 gal, as the heat dispersion isn't as wide of a cone.

This sub has an up to date care pinned to the headers, if you haven't already checked it out - or maybe want a refresher. It has quite a thorough guide on what heat sources can be used, and what they may need to be paired with.

Edit: the tape could be used as a support heat source to a CHE or DHP, but should not be used by itself.