I just took my infrared therm to several places in her tank. I was reading the cheapo therm stuck to the side of her tank. The floor of her cool side is 81, floor of the hot side is around 95. I set her water dish in the hot side in hopes of forcing evaporation/humidity. She and the water came up as 86. In regards to the hide, I used a shoe box from a high end company (no I didn't get the shoes.. darn) and so I would say the cardboard one is just as sturdy as her old round plastic tub.