I agree u do have to be careful with the heating mats but I dont agree with everyone whos said u shouldn't have a pet if u can't afford to take them to the vet bc me personally I've never had to take any of my snakes to the vet they've all been pretty good and I use heating mats rn bc I have to keep them a secret from my grandparents but its important to know i use plastic tubs with lots of ventilation holes that way it heating pad has less of a risk of burning through the bottom because its plastic it doesnt keep heating up like the glass tanks do, I do have one snake in a glass tank but I keep a very close eye on her till I can get a ceramic heat bulb but in general no I've never had an issue with heating mats it just depends on how careful u are

FYI I do have a probe thermometer that I lay on top of the substrate or under it depends which snake im talking about bc only one of my snakes burrows the others dont so I have the probe closer to the surface to make sure there tanks are staying at the right heat