Hi Jason. I had that problem too when I was putting my tank together. What I did was put more layers of fabric or anything else between the heat pad and the bottom of the tank. The more layers of things you add the more the heat will diffuse before actually going into the tank and in the hide box. You can use anything from layers of paper towels to regular cloth towers or unused pillow cases. My heating pad came with a cover and putting that between the pad and the bottom of the tank was enough to adjust the temp to the proper range.