Ultratherm help, please! About to just give up.

I really need some advice on my Ultratherm UTH, please. My t-stat probe is taped to the bottom of the Ultratherm with foil tape, which causes a heat spike in that area of 95*+. The rest of the UTH is around 85-86*. T-stat is set at 90. I've read countless times that no part of the enclosure should be over 95*, which is why I'm not turning up the t-stat any more than it is. I'm using an indoor/outdoor Acurite to monitor temps until I get my RBI 201 infrared thermometer.
I'm curious if I can just cover the entire bottom of the Ultratherm uth with a layer of foil tape to even out the heat spike and set t-stat accordingly?? Thankfully my snake is still at the breeders location and not having to endure this ordeal. They are being very flexible with me, but I'm sure they are wondering what the heck is going on... Any/all advice is extremely helpful. Merry Christmas!

You shouldn't use foil tape on thermostat probes for this very reason. A small amount of hot glue or maybe even electrical tape would be a much better choice.

I use heat resistant electrical tape. Seems to be working good so far.

Tucked the probe between the uth and glass, gently, and maintaining 90*! :beer::D