Hey guys, going to FINALLY!! build our breeder rodent racks. hoping to keep 3 actively breeding colonies of ASF's, 1 "grow up" group to replace the old breeders, 1 bin for storing the weanling ASF's, and have 1 bin for cleaning rotation.

that gives me 6 bins in total, but i want to build 2 separate racks of 3. i'm going off these plans, but i'm going to adapt it for 3 bins instead of 4. i also am going to make the legs short enough so that the bottom bin is only about 2 inches off the ground, as both racks will be sitting on a table-top. my question is how much space to leave between the top (food/water area) and bottom of each bin? i am probably not going to be plumbing them with an automatic watering system, since there will only be 5 bins with rats i think i can handle changing out bottles. i guess just leave enough room for my hand to throw in a bit of food?

another question, these plans say to use 2" X 2" lumber for the shelf part. i know 2" x 2"s are only actually 1.5 x 1.5, but the lip on my bins is only 1" wide. that would leave a gap of 1/2" between the side of the bin and the rack. is that going to pose any problems?

i'm hoping to get this done tomorrow. i absolutely cannot wait, cleaning glass tanks is AWFUL, not to mention the rats seem to be really nasty; i'm assuming it's because they feel "exposed" all the time.