sign of heat pad to hot?

[rabernet]

if its 110+ it will feel "hot" by just about anyones standards, and without a thermometer the dimmer would be useless to him. (and just so everyone knows a dimmer is a rheostat)

Ummm, no. Our body temps are normally in the mid to upper 90's and so 110 will not feel very hot to our touch. Even the high 90's can burn your snake.