Hot side temp with vs without hide. Am I being too picky?

[Ambassador]

So have a small 2 level rack with a thermostat setup for a target temp of 90 degrees. Without the hot hide in place, the surface temp in my tub is coming in at 90.3 at the warmest point. When I add the hide itself over the hot side there is a thermal gain of 4-6 degrees bringing it up to about 95 degrees. Obviously the hide is helping to insulate the area and raising the temp. I've checked this both with a metal thermometer probed left in the hide/on the surface and with an instant read thermometer gun. (This is without the snake in there.) Is this the expected impact of the hide and within standards or should I be dialing the thermostat back to hit 90 with the hide in place? Current thermostat is on/off style and is allowed to osscilate between 87.5 to 89.5 and will just cross 90 degrees due to lag on the high side.

[Bogertophis]

I'd be dialing back the heat to keep even the hide temperature within a safe range (ie. under 90* max). Not the optimum t-stat for this set-up, obviously. Yes, heat can build up in a hide- you might also try moving the hide so it's only half-heated. But keep in mind that snakes often slide them around also- you still don't want to risk it being too hot, as damage or death can result.