Human heating pad uneaven heat?

[Cthulhu]

I have a question for you human heating pad users out there.

Both of mine seem to put out very uneven heat.

The "Medium" setting varies (with an even papertowel substrate) from 93F to 83F, all within about 6". On the low side this means there are spots that are mid-low 70s.

1) Is this normal, or does this brand just suck?

2) Will this hurt? I mean, it's not like a BP's natural habitat has a perfectly uniform thermal curve.

Both of them are "Sunbeam Health at Home King Size with Ultraheat", 12"x24".

Oh, and the temp gun from Pro Exotics is GREAT! Best $25 I ever spent!

--Maarken

[Marla]

Your brand may suck, but like you said, natural environments aren't perfectly even either. As long as it's not getting too hot on top of the substrate (>95F or so) and your cool end temp is good, I don't think it's an issue. You might be able to even the heat out a bit by placing a layer of foil on top of the pad, though.

[freakoverdose1]

i use the one from walmart (The one with NO auto shutoff) and it works great. I use all mine on high setting and get a floor temp on the hot side of 91.

[Tigergenesis]

I've seen some actually say on the box "distributes heat evenly" or "even heat distribution", etc. So maybe it's just the one you bought.

[jotay]

I got the one from Walmart like the picture someone on here posted 12"x14"
and it has uneven heat also but every heat pad I have ever own has been like that. The temps on my hot side run around 88-94 depending on where and how the bp has moved the reptibark.
I don't see how you guys keep yours on med or high, mine becomes way to hot and I have papertowels down then reptibark and I have mine set on med with a dimmer switch set at about 1/2 way . If I put on low or med temps rise above 100 without the dimmer switch.
My set up is a 20 gal breeder tank so maybe thats why just a smaller enclosure.

[beaglegod]

Choices. Im finding thats the key word in caring for snakes, giving them enough choices within there enclosures and than letting em do their thing. So if the heat under the heat pad is a little uneven, that means more choices your snake can make,provided of course he can get to those various spot while still feeling safe. Its amazing to me to see Plissken scoot over just an inch or two to get a little warmer or a little cooler,its almost like him saying "aahh thats just the right spot."