Opinions please - Olive enclosure

[Striker]

I've just sorted out a new enclosure for my Olive. It's about 5w X 4h X 2d (feet). To provide heat 24/7 I have a large slate heat tile on the floor and I intended to put a reflector globe on the ceiling to create another basking spot and add some light just for aesthetic reasons.

But watching her over the last few days I'm having second thoughts as I'm starting to think that she will never use a higher basking position and will always choose the tile (eventually tiles as she grows bigger) on the floor. So now I'm thinking maybe just some LED strip lighting and just leave one source of heat on the floor. Any thoughts? Do you reckon she'd use a basking position higher up? She spends all day either in a hide or on the heat tile and is pretty active at night so I'm thinking the only time she'll ever really climb up will be night time, in which case the light would be off anyway...

Just wondering what others do/think? Thanks

 

[Tabby]

she will go wherever the heat is mate.

 

[Striker]

she will go wherever the heat is mate.

Yeah true I spose. So the real question I guess is what is other peoples experience with strip lighting and a heat tile, versus reflector globe onto a basking spot? Any pros and cons for either?

 

[JAS101]

well a reflector style globe would need a light cage so there's an expence . then the globe will blow every now and again more expence . vrs a tile heat pad setup you only need to buy once . not to mention a tile heat pad will be cheaper to run elec wise . as for LED strips I run them in every enclosure I have . the 600 LEDs per roll are much better and brighter then the 300 LED roll you can buy from ebay .

 

[MrThumper]

well a reflector style globe would need a light cage so there's an expence . then the globe will blow every now and again more expence . vrs a tile heat pad setup you only need to buy once . not to mention a tile heat pad will be cheaper to run elec wise . as for LED strips I run them in every enclosure I have . the 600 LEDs per roll are much better and brighter then the 300 LED roll you can buy from ebay .

Heating each has their pros & cons. I use heat panels in my large enclosures and lights in small ones. Heat mats....we'll personally I don't like them but each to their own. It's a must to control it using a thermostat and make sure it's a good thermostat. There are heat mats out there with a thermostat built in line....this was my experience with that one attempting to heat a quarantine tub....thermostat failed and lucky I could smell it before seeing flames


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[wokka]

I think it would be hard to provide a cool spot in a cage that shape with heat at the bottom and the top. I would aim for a heated top and a cool bottom, virtually 2 cages stacked with the top heated and the bottom cool. My Olives spend half most of their time off the heat in the cool end only using the heat tile for say 6 hours a day in the morning.