Baby snake "substrate" question

[savvylr]

So, I got my Hognose girl. I have three hides currently, because she came to me in shed. Her eyes are currently blue so she has not actually begun to shed yet. Right now she has one cool hide with no shredded paper towels, and two hot hides, one with shredded dry paper towel and one with damp paper towel. Does this sound okay for while she is in shed? Once she is finished, I will take the damp hide out.

Also, I have a jumpstart thermostat attached to my reptitherm heat pad. I have a mini size because the enclosure is just a 15 quart or so. Anyway, I have it set to 92, but I've temp checked it for the past week or so and on top of the paper towel liner, it seems like there is at least a 4 degree difference, while on certain parts of the bare tub, I picked up a reading of 97 degrees! I don't understand. I am using a digital infrared laser thermometer, so temp accuracy isn't an issue. I just don't want it to be too hot should my girl burrow under the paper towel and thus be touching the bare plastic. The warmest I've seen on the paper towel is around 86, the coolest at 84, while at the same time the bare tub being between 90 and 97 degrees! I don't understand this fluctuation in heat.