Thanks for the compliment
As for the heat when I first built it I wanted to make sure they were working correctly and that I was getting uniform heat distribution so I put the bars up front so I could get to them easier. This rack has been up for almost a year now, with no issues, so the heat strips are in the back now.
My rack is in a quiet room so I only use hides on a few young girls that are picky about eating...the rest don't have them and don't appear to mind at all.