rack systems buying vrs. building??

[LLAP101202]

Hello all, I am interested in possibly starting a breeding program...I have not yet decided if I want to start with corns or BP's. I currently have both, but am continuing to do much research before making a decission....anyway I would like to build a rack system anyway for my current snakes. I have seen some NICE ones that they want a small fortune for and have seen websights selling CD's with the plans for many styles and sizes.....Does anyone here have any plans or pics of their systems they are willing to share or sell....I am very good with building things and have no problem building from scratch including running of heat tape/cord and all that...I sort of have my own ideas from the pics I have seen however some of the pics don't show much becuse they would rather you buy thiers lol so any help anyone could give me would be greatly appreciated.

[CornCrazy]

Here is a good place to start: http://www.arbreptiles.com/cages/rack.shtml
I used these plans to build my first rack. The only thing I did differently was buy the melamine board pre-cut. It cost a little more, but was definitely MUCH easier.

Oh yeah - I also made mine with larger boxes. If you want the dimensions of the boards I bought, then just let me know. I currently have 3 racks. One rack holds 7 of the 28 quart sterlite containers. One of them holds 6 28 quart and 6 shoebox sterlite containers. The biggest rack holds a variety of different sized containers. I can fit either 3 - 12 quart containers or 1 - 28 quart and 1 - 12 quart containers on a shelf. I also have some shelves on it that hold 4 shoebox sized sterlite containers.

[LLAP101202]

thanks for the info Crazy....I notice this one has the heat tape on the back of the rach unit....do you prefer this to the ones where the shelve has a grove cut in it and the heat cord is run through that way so that it goes underneath an end of the sterilite containers??? Have you or anyone noticed a difference in success with one vrs the other?? I have so many ideas my head feels like it will explode lol....but being new to this I have to ask fifty billion questions to weed out my stupid ideas. Thanks again for the feedback and anyone else that would like to offer some info please do the more I have to go on the better. Thanks to all.

[CornCrazy]

I run my heat tape on the shelves. I personally think it provides better belly heat. I don't even cut a groove in the shelf. I just fix mine directly on the shelf. I have never had a problem doing it this way except for the fact that I have to occasionally replace the tape holding the heat tape down.

[LLAP101202]

ok so I assume then that the tape doesnt get hot enough to cause any damage to the plastic containers or the wood?? I dont want to burn my house down since I RENT lol and REALLY dont want to hurt the snakes....so its hot enough to heat them properly but not enough to cause damage to the wood or plastic??? thats really cool....NO no pun intended.

[CornCrazy]

Well, all of my flexwatt tape is attached to either a thermostat or a rheostat in order to control the temp. I only use the 3 or 4 inch flexwatt and it doesn't get as hot as the 11 inch. I still don't trust it enough to have it wired without using something to control the temp.

[LLAP101202]

ok now that brings up yet another question...how do I know how to "wire it up" to a thermostat??? does it come with the directions or is this somehting you already knew how to do or did someone have to teach you??? Do you have one Thermo for each shelfe or did youstring them together and have one thermo for entire unit?? I'm sorry to bombard youCrazy but you are the only one that answers lol

[CornCrazy]

Well, I have some which are wired into rheostats (cheap dimmer switches), but that was a pain to do. I had to have someone teach me. I don't even know if I could do it again...

I also bought a few ESU Reptile Temperature controllers to use. They aren't cheap (when you have to buy several), but they are easy to use. You just plug the heaters into them. There are some more expensive thermostats (like Helix) that are supposed to be top of the line, but I don't know anything about them.

ZooMed makes some rheostats that you just plug the heater into, also. I didn't like them as well. They just have high, medium, and low settings. I had to turn them almost off or the heat tape got pretty hot. They are much cheaper, though.

[flaming_lizard]

This is my rack

http://server6.uploadit.org/files/flaminglizard-myrack.jpg

It is a little different than the typical melamine rack. I wanted real wood so I made basically a shelving unit and left the tops on the sterilite containers to prevent moisture from contacting the wood. I used 4" flexwatt underneath the tubs. The temp is controlled by a simple light dimmer switch. The flexwatt came with directions for wiring the dimmer into the setup. Maybe the directions came included from the bean farm I do not remember. The reasoning behind what I did was I wanted two big spaces for my crested geckos and I obviously did not want them heated so The is no heating on the bottom two shelves. Just another way to do things I guess. The plans Terri recommended I might try next time. Although I would love to buy a freedom breeder :) . Big bucks though.

[CornCrazy]

I guess I could have posted pics of my racks, also. Well, here they are:

http://premium.uploadit.org/CornCrazy/My-Rack-1.jpg

http://premium.uploadit.org/CornCrazy/My-Rack-2.jpg

http://premium.uploadit.org/CornCrazy/My-Rack-3.jpg

[latazyo]

I built this by buying precut melamine shelving

basically made a frame out of 2x4s and put shelves on it

http://bitz.net/~latazyo/Pics/Herps/rack.JPG

you can see that I built a rheostat with electrical stuff form the home depot

I needed to do this instead of using a light dimmer because i needed to plug a power strip with several heat tape lengths plugged into it

I butcher extension cords then solder them onto the heat tape and cover that with hot glue

there is absolutely no reason to worry about routering a groove in

your heat tape won't be hotter than a 100 degrees, now...your body is supposed to be 98.6 core, so probably 95 on the outside....do you melt plastic or burn wood when you touch it? no...so no need to router...hehe

the only advantage I could see to routering would be to avoid sliding your rubbermaids across the tape, but I just used clear packing tape and it works perfectly

during rack building I would strongly recommend placing newspapers on top of your totes when you're putting the next shelf on....otherwise your drawers will be extremely difficult to slide in and out

[LLAP101202]

Thank you all for the great pics and advice..these along with my own ideas should be what I need....I am still processing all the info...I am going on vacation as of 7/22 - 7/27...and while gone I think I am going to relax and do some sketches and see what I can come up with ...I like the looks of several different things from several different style and trying to incorporate them together is going to be tricky....like I LOVED the paper towel holder...lol Thats a small thing but a HUGE help and very handy. I am trying to come up with the most for my money and to make the most of space saving and time saving with out affecting the animals in any way.

[vft]

quik :?: for all. what size (inches) rubbermaid would be good for a full grown ball python?

thanks

[latazyo]

vft, I"m not sure what a minimum would be, but I keep mine (which is still a baby) in that bottom container, I plan to keep it in there for life

[robertmcphee]

I think that building your own is more satisfying. It is sometimes frustrating during the process, but it is much more worth it in the end. Either way that you decide, good luck.

Bob

[beastie]

watch your costs, and be careful with the heating!!!


i've thought about it quite a bit, and have purchased the only rack i have. (nature's spirit) i like my decision, it works for me, but if you build, good luck to you!


bc

[Detroit Boas]

Well the only complaint that i have about melamine racks is that they are heavy they will usually sag after a while and if you are keeping herps that require high humidity after a while they could rot..I do use them and they do take a long time before they get to this condition...

[ta2dshtrbug]

I have built 3 and bought 1. The ones I built were of melamine, they have held up ok. I haven't been completely happy because of swelling caused by high humidity during shed cycles. The one I bought was an Animal Plastics rack with heat rope routered through it. It is an absolutely phenomenal product, and you can tell they know it by the price of these. I bought mine used and it was still $125. If I was suddenly rich I'd replace all my othgers with AP's, otherwise I will continue to build my own.

[Alias47]

Hey Terri,
How big is that cali king in the second picture?

Nice racks everyone.

I think I will build one in the next year or two, thanks for all the advice.
I found someone selling three outlet ESU Digital Thermostats for 24.95 on ebay...had like twelve...I think shipping was 5-7$ for the first one and 1$ a piece after that...don't know if thats a good price but sounded reasonable to me.

[CornCrazy]

Alias,
I measured her about a month ago and she was 57.3 inches long. She's almost a 5 footer! She is also young...she'll be 3 in October. The funny thing is that she is a very picky eater. It is not uncommon for her to go 2-3 months without eating. It amazes me that she is SO big! She is the mother of all of the desert phase Cali's I have for sale.

[Alias47]

She LOOKS big...even through the plastic.
Wow, what a great Cali.
And not even 3?
Wow...she'll go over 5 foot when she is finally done growing :D

I can't believe she will go 2-3 months without eating...doesn't sound like a kingsnake...being the eating machines that they are.

My kings will eat until I don't put any more in front of them.

My 12" Thayeri will eat 2 pinks and look for a third.
The snake is smaller around than a pencil...I would give her the third but I am afraid she would regurge. She usually displays signs of being ready to eat again inside 4 days!!

I just moved my cali up to fuzzies and she will take 3 of them!!
Was on 3 pinks in a sitting...and she's only 20 inches.

Never heard of a cali going off food for so long...
Amazing animals...she definitely doesn't look the worse for wear because of it!!!

[CornCrazy]

She is definitely a big girl. I love her...she is very tame. I had her outside one day and one of the neighborhood kids was looking at her. He was "petting" her pretty much all over. She even let him pet her head. In my experience, most of them seem to be head shy. Not this girl...

I also find it weird that she doesn't eat very much. My other kings tend to be eating machines, as well. I will say this...during breeding season she was a VERY aggressive eater. Every time I opened her enclosure, she was looking for food. As soon as she recuperated from all of her egg laying, she went back to being picky.

[Alias47]

My cali isn't head shy either...I can lead her around by her chin and the sides of her head while I handle her without so much as a flinch.

Side note:
I fed my 12" Thayeri Friday...she hit a big pinkie breech...
she got up to the front legs and got stuck. Imagine a drinking straw swallowing a marble...I almost pulled it out to let her try again, but she bunched up about an inch of her body up against the back of her jaws trying to get this thing in...she worked her way around and PUSHED with all she had against a rock in her viv. About 2 minutes of pushing and she got past the legs and down it went.

I felt so bad, but I couldn't help but laugh...if I tried to get it out for her, I don't think she would have let me.