Can you put hides over heat mats?

[Futureboundexe]

I have the reptitherm UTH 10-20 gal for my 20 gallon tank (getting gecko next week), and in the instructions it says not to place any hide or decorations over the heat mat. Im wondering how important this is because as far as i know youre supposed to have a hide on the hottest end of the tank for the reptile to hang out in when it needs to heat up or else it might feel to exposed and never go on the mat. Ill have a thermostat attached and would probably put the censor in the hot hide so temps dont get too high. Does anyone have experience with this?

 

[acpart]

As long as you have a thermostat it should be fine. I agree that the whole point is to have a warm hide. When it's cooler in the air, the warm hide, located over the heat mat, traps warm air so the gecko can stay warm in there.

Aliza