UTH safety question

[Bogertophis]

Hi! From what I hear it is pretty common practice to use foil tape to make a single use uth reusable by sticking it on the sticky side of the uth. I just did this for my bp but then had the worry that it is a bit of a fire hazard since aluminum is conductive. The UTH is regulated and everything and his bin is lifted for airflow, but is this really safe?

I know others have suggested using foil tape on UTH- but personally (& I've been using UTH for literally decades with no safety problems) I do NOT use foil tape on UTH, ever- When those who manufacture these products provide safe guidelines, I think it's prudent to follow them.

Note- there are many brands & types of UTH, some are more insulated than others, but any of them can have minor damage or manufacturing defects too. Now that you're asking after you've installed it with foil tape, only you can answer whether you're comfortable assuming the (hopefully minor?) long-term risk of having done so.

Many years ago when I was very "new" at this stuff, I was using a strip of UTH ("Flexwatt") on a long metal shelf with multiple hatchling set-ups in a row (each housed singly), when I noticed that I could feel a little electrical buzz when I touched the shelf. Does that answer your question? I was NOT using metal tape at all, & this was on coated (factory-painted) metal shelving.