Homemade rack - advice and comments?

[lawnchaircrisis]

After struggling to maintain my small collection of ball pythons in a one bedroom apartment for over a year, I finally decided to switch to a rack-type system. Tubs are heated using heat mats for belly heat connected to a thermostat, and I'm using a light layer of eco-earth as substrate. There's still a few little changes I need to make, such as adding more hides (right now I'm using cardboard boxes and tupperware)

Currently, I only have 3 bps, so I only am using "half" the rack and 3 tubs. The rest of the rack and tubs are in my closet for when my collection expands.



I wanted to get some opinions and suggestions! Criticism is welcomed, but please keep it at least somewhat constructive.

[cletus]

I think it's pretty awesome. I'm getting ready to do something very similar. I plan on enclosing the back and sides to retain heat a little better. Maybe make the back cover removable. I though about hinging one side so I could swing it open to be able to access the heat tape easier. Very cool and I bet it was really cheap to put together. Nice work!!

[the_rotten1]

Looks good. I did something similar with a storage rack and some heat tape, but with one more level and a tank on top. I've noticed that it's easier to keep the tank warm up there, since extra heat from the rest of the rack rises. Still, racks are definitely the way to go imo.

[lawnchaircrisis]

Thanks! I like the idea of adding back and sides to try and retain more heat. Maybe I could have Lowes/Home Depot cut some plywood at the right sizes to screw into the sides and back.

I used a premade shelving unit which allows me to easily change the spacing between levels, add more shelves or disassemble it completely when I move, which adds convenience but also made it a bit more expensive. Right now it has 4 shelves, but I have the pieces so I could easily add another two shelves/levels to it.

[bcr229]

Lift up on each lid in the middle of the long side. If it rises more than an inch you will have escapees to deal with.

[Kibbleswhites]

Lift up on each lid in the middle of the long side. If it rises more than an inch you will have escapees to deal with.

My exact thought. Unless you secure the lids they will escape.

[OTorresUSMC]

Here is the one i just built. Your set up is A OK Im just not a fan of tubs. Takes away the asthetic aspect completely. And all my shelves slide out for easy access while acting as the lid for the shelf below.



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[Meerna]

Do you have your heat mats plugged into a power strip, and then the thermostat? I was wondering if that works well, I'm thinking of doing it myself when I get my next snake in, at least until I get an actual rack with heat tape and a better thermostat. I currently have 2 of the one you're using, one for each snake I have so far. I was hoping I'd be able to put 2 on one and then use the other for my newest snake I'm getting soon, since I have a different sized heat mat for her since she's smaller.

[OTorresUSMC]

Do you have your heat mats plugged into a power strip, and then the thermostat? I was wondering if that works well, I'm thinking of doing it myself when I get my next snake in, at least until I get an actual rack with heat tape and a better thermostat. I currently have 2 of the one you're using, one for each snake I have so far. I was hoping I'd be able to put 2 on one and then use the other for my newest snake I'm getting soon, since I have a different sized heat mat for her since she's smaller.

Not sure if you were asking me this or the OP soooo if it wasnt me sorry haha. Funny story with this. So each tank actually has its own thermostat right now. You just cant see the other one because its on the side. But when i first put this set up together i did plug both pad into a strip and then into one thermostat. Which for the record can be done yes. The thermostats handle up to 1000 watts. HOWEVER i had them both on one for one night and what i found was there was like a 4 degree variance between the two pads. Now this may have been because currently each pad is on a different set up (plexi vs regular glass) also the plexi is the top while the glass is on bottom and the base on my plexi tank is all flush with the shelf where as the glass one has gaps where heat escapes. So basically yes you can run more than one heat pad on the same thermostat with a power strip but i think you will want to make sure everything is identical. I plan on using one thermostat for the top two tanks and another for the bottom two once they are all full. Unless i upgrade to a high quality herpstat in which case i will just put all four on the one thermostat

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[Meerna]

I do have 2 identical heat mats for my adults, those would be the ones I'd be putting on the thermostat together. They have identical setups as well, so they should run pretty close to the same temp. The question was for the OP, but you answered it just as well so thank you ^_^