Repti Rack Options

[RedseaReefer]

Hey everyone! im fairly new into the whole reptile situation but im getting into keeping and eventual breeding of balls.
As of now i have a small 110gram Mojave male and a slightly larger maybe ~220gram female pastel and soon as weather improves ill be getting a large 900+ gram male spider. They are being kept in glass tanks with screen tops for now untill i get my head around this whole rack setup..

when i do have all three ill keep them as follows again.. untill i get my head around this whole rack situation

1.0 spider in a 35/39 Tall
0.1 pastel in a 20L
1.0 mojo in a 10g

all with ample water and UTH's sprayed daily to keep humidity up.
UTH on one end, water in the middle, 75w light w/dome on the other.
I noticed my UTH getting a little hot like 101' so i put some bedding to kindof buffer the heat. is this good or just worse? iv been reading alot about the typical beginer and using UTH like the ones from zoomed/petsmart and how a little too hot is probably better than no heat and eventual death.. so...... i guess what im asking is where to go from here? everyone is eating perfectly and shedding ok, temps stay abouts 80 amb, 90hot and ~90-100 on top of the UTH again i know 100 is too hot and 90-82 would be ideal i just dont know exactly how to help this without a thermistat/ herpstat..





I have seen some racks like the ones sold from animalplasctic as economy rack which i think i saw a three shelf with heat for like... $149.99 is this something i should think about to save space?

i guess my biggest problem with jumping on a purchase like this is how easy would it be for me to make myself?? heres a few more minutes of rambling..

iv heard the flexwatt can be purchased pre-wired which seemed to be the biggest headache involved in the entire rack setup. but if this peticular setup comes with heat would that just eliminate that headache?? i guess obviously it wouldt come with a stat but hwo much of a stat do i need? am i going to need a herpstat 4 with 4 probes and 4 humidity sensors and ect ect ect? or could i rig four strips to a herpstat two? sorry if these are stupid questions i hope nobody flames me ^.^ i really try to read up on things before i just ask "lazy" questions and make others do my research

but.. if i build it myself i could just get some lumber from depot and just get the flexwatt pre-wired? would regular plywood be safe with the heat tape on it? id imagine so if regulated to 90' well enough right?.. lol i know its alot to ask i just wanted some guidance in the right direction on this subject

any thoughts on other companies that suplied racks at a affordable price?

obviously right now i dont have alot of a budget but like alot of people id like to get a setup thats on the lower end of the price scale but isnt going to break or malfunction for a acceptable life-span of the product..

thanks for any help! ill be back on later to clean up this post and add some more nearly aimless thoughts/ideas!!

love my new forum addiction!

[jedidiah578]

You can go to hd, lowes ,menards, & buy 4x8 sheets of 1/2" or 3/4" melamine for under $40 a sheet & cut to size. The heat tape is like $2.10 per foot. & you can have it sent pre wired. You can use a single zone thermostat like herpstat 1.

I would never buy a rack from a company it just seems like a ton of money to spend on something I could make myself. But then again I work in a factory that makes office furniture so I have access to free scrap melamine & all the equipment.

[BFE Pets]

Hey everyone! im fairly new into the whole reptile situation but im getting into keeping and eventual breeding of balls.
As of now i have a small 110gram Mojave male and a slightly larger maybe ~220gram female pastel and soon as weather improves ill be getting a large 900+ gram male spider. They are being kept in glass tanks with screen tops for now untill i get my head around this whole rack setup..

when i do have all three ill keep them as follows again.. untill i get my head around this whole rack situation

1.0 spider in a 35/39 Tall

*Imo to big for a ball *

0.1 pastel in a 20L
1.0 mojo in a 10g

all with ample water and UTH's sprayed daily to keep humidity up.
UTH on one end, water in the middle, 75w light w/dome on the other.
I noticed my UTH getting a little hot like 101' so i put some bedding to kindof buffer the heat. is this good or just worse? iv been reading alot about the typical beginer and using UTH like the ones from zoomed/petsmart and how a little too hot is probably better than no heat and eventual death.. so...... i guess what im asking is where to go from here? everyone is eating perfectly and shedding ok, temps stay abouts 80 amb, 90hot and ~90-100 on top of the UTH again i know 100 is too hot and 90-82 would be ideal i just dont know exactly how to help this without a thermistat/ herpstat..

*90-92 for the hot spot and 80-82 for ambient air temps. If you can't afford a herpastat or the like atleast get a hydofarm t-stat they are like $50 on amazon. If that's to much then maybe you should have rethought how much you spent on animals first. Sadly most people buy a pet then go "carp I need ....." However your local Lowe's or home depot sell plug in light dimmers that will get you through until you can swing the needed equipment. How are you monitoring your temps? I would think a 75 watt bulb to much for anything less than a 55 gal glass tank unless your house is fairly chili. *



I have seen some racks like the ones sold from animalplasctic as economy rack which i think i saw a three shelf with heat for like... $149.99 is this something i should think about to save space?

i guess my biggest problem with jumping on a purchase like this is how easy would it be for me to make myself?? heres a few more minutes of rambling..

iv heard the flexwatt can be purchased pre-wired which seemed to be the biggest headache involved in the entire rack setup. but if this peticular setup comes with heat would that just eliminate that headache?? i guess obviously it wouldt come with a stat but hwo much of a stat do i need? am i going to need a herpstat 4 with 4 probes and 4 humidity sensors and ect ect ect? or could i rig four strips to a herpstat two? sorry if these are stupid questions i hope nobody flames me ^.^ i really try to read up on things before i just ask "lazy" questions and make others do my research

*Flexx watt is easy enough to wire yourself. There's plenty of how to videos and threads on it. Also lots of DIY racks to choose from on this forum and YouTube. Building a rack isn't hard if you are handy. As for the t-stat and all the probes...... Not needed most people just run one probe per rack maybe two. You don't need a probe in each tub especially if you run the flexxwatt in a series. *

but.. if i build it myself i could just get some lumber from depot and just get the flexwatt pre-wired? would regular plywood be safe with the heat tape on it? id imagine so if regulated to 90' well enough right?.. lol i know its alot to ask i just wanted some guidance in the right direction on this subject

*Plywood sucks for racks. The high humidity ruins and warps the boards. You want to use a laminated board like melamine for racks or PVC sheets. Most hardware stores don't carry it but a sign shop may help you find some. *

any thoughts on other companies that suplied racks at a affordable price?

obviously right now i dont have alot of a budget but like alot of people id like to get a setup thats on the lower end of the price scale but isnt going to break or malfunction for a acceptable life-span of the product..

thanks for any help! ill be back on later to clean up this post and add some more nearly aimless thoughts/ideas!!

love my new forum addiction!

Plenty of places on here to find your answers. Check the diy threads and I tried to answer some of them throughout your quoted post. My phone won't let me change text color so you will have to read through it all just to see my answers.

[RedseaReefer]

You can go to hd, lowes ,menards, & buy 4x8 sheets of 1/2" or 3/4" melamine for under $40 a sheet & cut to size. The heat tape is like $2.10 per foot. & you can have it sent pre wired. You can use a single zone thermostat like herpstat 1.

I would never buy a rack from a company it just seems like a ton of money to spend on something I could make myself. But then again I work in a factory that makes office furniture so I have access to free scrap melamine & all the equipment.

thanks for the reply!!

thats kindof how i feel as far as making it myself even though i DONT have access to many tools or SPACE to build one.. im sure i can use my dads garage or even a cleaned up living room to put it all together i guess now i just need to plan out how big its going to be and where to get all the suplies..


so... 1/2 or 3/4" "melamine" is that better for having heat tape on it than just plywood?
a "single zone" stat like herpstat 1 .. would i just wire it all to a splitter to controle maybe 4 of them in a four shelf rack? would i just place a probe on one of them and assume the rest of the strips are nearly the same temp? thans again for the reply i just like i said needed a little guidance from exp'd people to feel like im on the right track and not making TOO many mistakes lol

[RedseaReefer]

thanks again guys for the replys! ill think up some plans and do some more searching tonight! also im not at all worried about the price of eq for keeping the animals ^.^ i absolutly have no problem dropping the $$ to keep them properly i know some people do what you said "crap I need ..... this and that and this and that" BUT I'v been there done that with fish lol its the same with fishkeepers they get 20 fish they like and they are too big or too mean or too picky ect ect.. SO i really try to do my legwork first instead of regretting it later another example... Saltwater reefs lol people with too much money and not enough brains buy every supliment in the book and forget basic husbandry

ok enough for now im jabbering..

[RedseaReefer]

so when it comes too getting a used rack how does this sound to everyone??

they are animal plasic racks with heat "cable"?? (never heard of this before)

heres the list he quoted me

"AP 9 shelf rack with heat cable (27 tubs)
AP 7 shelf adult rack (7 tubs, I
think they're 41 qt) with heat cable as well.

Both rack's heat cables
were replaced about 8 months ago. Both racks have Helix DBS - 1000 Thermostats.
I've got the boxes and night drop cables for both Helix thermostats.

All
that for $500 and it's yours."

seems like a good deal to me right? of course id have to drive 5.5hrs there and back to get it but i was just wondering what you guys thought about it? would you do this if you planned on building a collection and eventual breeding? it just seemed like id be saving alot of hassel puting the 12hour trip aside haha as well as save alot of money on the EQ id be getting right? haha sorry if i seem unsure im just a little excitable thans in advance for any advice

[RedseaReefer]

Seems like ill save about $500-$600 to drive 11hrs and spend $100 in gas but then again I am a little quick to jump the gun on things that's why I was asking.

[The Serpent Merchant]

That is a pretty good deal, I would be tempted, that's for sure.

[RedseaReefer]

I thought so too haha

[RedseaReefer]

Ok so now im wondering... if im getting a 27x 6quartt rack and.... a 7x 42quart rack i think this will be a problem as far as the in between hatchling and adult sizes.

1.0 mojave ~150g
0.1 lesserbee (incoming)
1.0 lesser ~450-550g
0.1 pastel ~250g
1.0 spider ~1300g (incoming when weather permits)

for example i think my female pastel would be too big for a 6qt and a 42qt will be too roomy?
or is there a chance ill be able to put a smaller amount of larger tubs in the hatchling rack? like 18x 15qt tubs.. i imagine not.. >.<

PLEASE PLEASE any input will be greatly appreciated