Billy,
If your temps aren't 100-105 on the hot end, it's probably that your house is too cold. You mentioned lower to mid 60's I believe. If you don't want to raise the house temps try insulating the back and sides of your tank with some kind of insulation found at homedepot maybe. Also, that fake rock in the back. If it's styrofoam you probably should remove it or chance melting it if it comes too close to the bulb.
Also you can fix the lighting so it's on one end of the tank. (fluorescent tube, kittycornered as best you can), and cover the remaining part of the lid with either paper or cardboard, or anything that'll keep the heat from escaping.
And that's if the heatlight is sitting directly on the lid and can be kept off the paper. You don't want the light fixtures over the paper.
If you have cats or any other loose creatures you'll need to make sure everything is secured properly to prevent fires. I live in RI and suffer from freezing winters and this works for me and my house temps are 74-76, much to my oil companies delight.
At Petsmart they have some ceramic branches that are about the right height to get them closer. You should be about 10in away from the bulb.
Concerning the open mouth, that should only happen after he get's hot. If he does it all the time, and it's accompanied by any breathing sounds he could have caught a uri if he was too cold for too long.
Good luck!