Finally built my rat racks!!

[BigIan]

I finally built a couple rodent racks, trying to afford to feed 30-40 snakes a week was proving to get really expensive. I built the whole thing using 2 x 3"s besides the rails that hold the tubs on, those were 2 x 2"s. I'm pretty stoked on them and can't wait to start producing my own food. I figure I'll put 1.4 in each of them, they're fairly large tubs, something like 22 x 28 and 6" deep. With 40 females this could get out of control pretty quickly but I know the guy at the local pet store will buy any excess.

I didn't do step by step pictures but assuming you can get these same concrete mixing tubs, I can give you the dimensions and quantity of the cuts you'll need. If you're not a handy person, would like some racks built and live in Southern California I'll commission a few builds. These things are super tight and super solid, they should last a LONG time

[Dakota11]

Great rack. Here in canada we have to travel to usa Home Depot to get the tubs. Would it be possible to get the dimensions of the cut wood of your rack please? How high is it? I hope to put 6 and 6. Thanks a bunch

[MonkeyShuttle]

Nice man are you gonna put the gravity water system or just use bottles

[BigIan]

I'm thinking just bottles, I don't want to have to run tube through out the whole thing. Plus the brass fittings are expensive. I guess if I used 1/4 tube I could connect the drip with John Guest fittings.

Shoot, now I"m changing my mind, maybe I should run tube through out the tubs. Having a 5 gal bucket as a reservoir should last a while which means less maintenance.

Then again I can get a 12 pack of the bottles fairly cheap

[Andybill]

They look good Ian! Nicely done brother!

[Dakota11]

Great rack. Here in canada we have to travel to usa Home Depot to get the tubs. Would it be possible to get the dimensions of the cut wood of your rack please? How high is it? I hope to put 6 and 6. Thanks a bunch

Seriously, if u wouldn't mind that would be great. I'm not exactly handy when it comes to building but getting tubs next week and going to attempt to build rack

[Wapadi]

They look great! Just a couple of little things that we have learned along the way.....

Keep at least two tubs empty (fights, floods, weanlings, etc)
Go ahead and do the water system - way easier & quicker, you wont believe have much water rats can drink!
Personally I would put some distance between your snake rack and the rat racks

just my two cents!!

[BigIan]

sorry guys, I'll get dimensions tomorrow.

Wapadi, thanks for the suggestion. Unfortunately my snake room is fairly small and there's no other way to lay it out.

I might move the rodents to the garage but that's not a sure thing... I guess I'll have to work on making that happen...

[creatism]

sorry guys, I'll get dimensions tomorrow.

Wapadi, thanks for the suggestion. Unfortunately my snake room is fairly small and there's no other way to lay it out.

I might move the rodents to the garage but that's not a sure thing... I guess I'll have to work on making that happen...

I'll agree with wapadi, but I'll add if they are in your house use water bottles, the reason is that if they flood, which will happen, you only have to deal with the amount if water in the bottle vs 5gal of water. Once they are out of your house and either in their own building or garage you can switch to a watering system fairly cheaply!


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[Expensive hobby]

Go with the watering system and never look back. And don't think with two racks you will keep up with 30-40 snakes. I have 3 right now at 4.1 and I can't keep up with the snakes that eat rats. A lot are on rabbits which I am also breeding. And I highly suggest putting the rats in the garage, trust me lol.

Another word of advice, try out freedom breeders spring loaded sippers. Even if they leak it is so slow that you won't flood a tub unless you don't pay attention for weeks on end.

Here are my racks for an idea on the setup:

The two on the left are the new style with water.

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