Honestly, the way she acts when the food is right there in front of her....not sure she can sense heat at all.
My son wiggles it and goes back and forth and tries all kinds of things to get her interested, but she just turns and goes the opposite direction.
As long as he is capable of getting the food into her he is going to give it the best try he can.
There's no reason that a tongue deformity would make her unable to sense heat. The pit organs are not part of the same system as the tongue or even the eyes. Reduced sensory ability might just make the prey less appealing though.