I am getting ready to completely rennovate a 12' x 26' area into my designated snake pit. Water, air, heat, etc., all in the shop. I will be building all my racks to hold 41qt, 28qt, 15qt and 6qt tubs. THG heat tape and HerpStats will be used on the shelves. I currently have 6 racks made from PVC from C-Serpents. I have one QT rack made from OSB with 4" THG tape and it has been doing just fine.

My question is if I really NEED melamine or PVC? Plywood or OSB is much cheaper and easier to work with and has no problem holding up to 110F heat here in FL, so even 95F on a HerpStat would not be a problem. I ask because I see a lot of people building racks out of malamine or PVC, but I need to cover quite a larger area than just a 10 tub rack and it would be pricey with melamine or PVC. I'm looking at SIX 10' x 6' high units- possibly on wheels for ease of cleaning the shop.

I'm thinking 1/2" or 5/8" plywood and 2"x4"s would be just fine.