Adhesive UTH - Can you leave the backing on?

[mousch]

I'm looking at my BP setup and buying it piece by piece these next few weeks and the only UTHs I can find in town are Zoo-Med and Exo-Terra adhesive ones. Because I'll be moving my BP to bigger tanks as he grows I'd rather not take the hit of a new UTH every time he needs a move.
Is it safe to use one of these heaters with the backing still on the adhesive side?
I suppose I could also stick it to a thin tile or something, right?

Edit - I don't want to use heat tape because I would have to order it online and well... you know how the credit card bill monster gets sometimes!
So I guess I'd rather stick to my local supplies. I did go to the big reptile store we had in town (didn't know we had one until I got there!) but they didn't do heat tape and the guy was very pushy =\

[ladywhipple02]

Yes, you can leave the backing on. It's actually a bit better to do so, unless you plan on leaving the UTH on the same cage forever. If you stick it on a cage, and then peal it off again, it can damage the coils inside the pad. This can cause the pad to either heat to extreme temps or to not heat at all.

Just pick up some foil tape or electrical tape at Wal-mart or Meijer and use that to stick the UTH on. Works just as well, and there's less of a chance of damaging the pad when you switch it to another cage.

[mousch]

Awesome. I didn't want it to start leaking toxic gases and kill my boy, thanks

[recycling goddess]

i always remove the plastic and instead stick the entire UTH to tin foil... then i either tape it to the bottom or set it under the enclosure snuggly on top of ceramic tiles... either way works!