I question the hot spot myself sometimes cause my temps are pretty spot on and the only time my snake goes in his hot side hide is when he is in shed. He actually doesn't use the 2 identical hides I got from reptile basics. He uses a flat piece of cork bark 98% of the time which is at the coolest part of his cage. If fact, He digesting 2 rats he ate last night and is at the coolest part of the cage.