New rack build for display animals

[piedpiperballs]

My kids wanted to display our favorite ball pythons without spending too much money so we built the following rack system which is working out great. The tubs have a removable floor with a hole giving the snakes access to their burrow filled with aspen. The snakes spend the daylight hours sleeping in their burrow and explore the above section during the night. The tubs are still a breeze to clean but are just lacking a little decorating which we're still thinking about.

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[distaff]

Love seeing creative stuff. Very nice.

Is the false bottom/platform wood? You might want to use plexi, lexan, or acrylic for those later, if what you have now gets soiled. I picked up a very cheap cutting board (drillable, non rusting, non toxic, easy to clean) at the Dollar store that is just the right size to make a stable base for an interesting piece of wood I picked up.

[zina10]

VERY cool and impressive !!

Love it.

For younger animals one could still put a "tight" hide on each warm and cool side in the "burrow" And put a nice piece of driftwood and greenery on top, creating more privacy by adding stuff to "hide behind" or "sit on top".

Very neat indeed. You should sell your idea to a rack builder,lol, because I would love a rack like this in black, made out of PVC. I would like one long heat tape running throughout the entire rack. (I like this about mine). Basically going underneath each tub (in a recess), then up a side, underneath the next tub, up the opposite side, etc. Easy to control plus it adds a bit warmth to the upper portion of each tub, from the side the tape runs up on.

Very, very cool !!!

[SDA]

I love this design. Not a fan of tubs for no logical reason but this would change my mind about them. You could even make that board out of pvp board if you didn't like using wood so it looks super flexible in material and super practical while being perfect for the snake.

I bet a nice grapewood branch with fake vines ziptied to it and placed diagonally in the enclosure would be perfect for decoration.

Can I ask a few questions because if I went racks I would so borrow your idea!

How's humidity? I would assume with the removable floor it would help keep humid the hide area.

How well do they take to this setup? Seeing how the entire bottom area is a giant hide that they can thermo regulate I would assume they take to it much better.

Would painting or blocking out the bottom side of the tub to darken the hide area benefit at all or does the semi opaque tubs cover that just fine?

Love that recessed area for the heat tape to avoid rubbing when taking out the tub. Does it work well for getting the necessary heat to the hot side since it is not in direct contact?

Is feeding much easier with the floor? I would assume so since you don't have to worry about substrate at all.


All in all I am in love with this concept design!

[piedpiperballs]

[QUOTE=SDA;2561691]I love this design. Not a fan of tubs for no logical reason but this would change my mind about them. You could even make that board out of pvp board if you didn't like using wood so it looks super flexible in material and super practical while being perfect for the snake.

I bet a nice grapewood branch with fake vines ziptied to it and placed diagonally in the enclosure would be perfect for decoration.

Can I ask a few questions because if I went racks I would so borrow your idea!

How's humidity? I would assume with the removable floor it would help keep humid the hide area.

How well do they take to this setup? Seeing how the entire bottom area is a giant hide that they can thermo regulate I would assume they take to it much better.

Would painting or blocking out the bottom side of the tub to darken the hide area benefit at all or does the semi opaque tubs cover that just fine?

Love that recessed area for the heat tape to avoid rubbing when taking out the tub. Does it work well for getting the necessary heat to the hot side since it is not in direct contact?

Is feeding much easier with the floor? I would assume so since you don't have to worry about substrate at all.


All in all I am in love with this concept design![/QUO

The rack is 3/4" xpvc, we used white since it was $120 less than black. The removable floor is plywood since that's what I had on hand but when I have surplus xpvc I will change to that. We thought about blacking out the tub in front of the burrow but that doesn't appear to be necessary since all six snakes have been feeding regularly even though two of them prior to their move were picky. I don't measure the humidity but base it on how well the snakes shed and all is well in that department. I've recessed the heat tape with a router on my last three builds and will continue to do so to avoid friction wear. I thought the snakes would soil the plywood but they have been using the aspen. The tubs are from Office Depot when they had a buy two get one free sale (still $20 a piece). I like the idea about the branches and will try that today when I get a chance to go to the hobby store.

[Sunnieskys]

Ohhhhh my gods! This would allow me to get more snakes! In love with this entire idea! I might even try this false floor with glass tanks!

[Godzilla78]

My kids wanted to display our favorite ball pythons without spending too much money so we built the following rack system which is working out great. The tubs have a removable floor with a hole giving the snakes access to their burrow filled with aspen. The snakes spend the daylight hours sleeping in their burrow and explore the above section during the night. The tubs are still a breeze to clean but are just lacking a little decorating which we're still thinking about.

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Dude, thats epic. You could market that design and ship them all over the country... just saying.

[Jhill001]

Ya'll need to get in a library. The false floor "burrow" idea goes way back to some books from the 80's as a method to expand the overall usable space in an enclosure particularly with larger snakes/lizards. Most everything in those books is BS now but that idea was always a good one.

Cool idea to expand the space available in the tubs. I've never been a big fan of tubs for anything but babies just because I like to decorate enclosures and see my snakes but this is neat. It would be really cool if someone would manufacture a tub that is actually see through and not cloudy.

[Regius_049]

What size tubs are those or what model and brand are they?

[piedpiperballs]

What size tubs are those or what model and brand are they?

They are
Really Useful Box® Plastic Storage Box, 64 Liters, 28" x 17 5/16" x 12 1/4", Clear

I bought them at Office Depot. I was drawn to them because of their strength and the fact they are the clearest ones I've ever seen. They have many different sizes but this is the largest size Office Depot stocked.