Best budget racks-Juvi/Adult bp's
We have 9 baby bps that will be needing to be upp'd out of their 6qt shoebox rack by sometime in the spring (latest, hopefully), and I am trying to decide on what type of rack is going to be the most versatile and cost effective without losing quality. Right now I am mostly considering melamine with a temper or pegboard back, wood framed with pvcx shelves, the frugal herpers rack in the DIY section, or a similar style to the wood framed design using a cheaper material than pvcx for shelving (maybe mdf or temperboard?).
Let me know what you all think, have used and recommend. I am hoping to find a rack that can take a variety of tubs, varying from hopefully 15qt ish to 41qts for adults. Eventually, we will probably have one hatchling rack, one juvi rack for 15 and 28 qts and one adult for 32 and 41qts, but that is years away.
Also, what tubs would you suggest I design around? Vision, Iris, etc. tubs are more consistent over time, but Sterilite/Rubbermaid are usually quite a bit cheaper but the designs change all the time.
Pics are great too.
Here are some design pics I mentioned
http://ball-pythons.net/forums/showthread.php?t=58302
http://ball-pythons.net/forums/showthread.php?t=58302
http://ball-pythons.net/forums/showthread.php?t=97598
Re: Best budget racks-Juvi/Adult bp's
I have RBI's and melamine racks that I've built. I really like them both. My down side to the RBI's is the 32qt's only come 4 high, and the 41qt's 3 high where as the melamine racks I can build them how ever high that I choose, And for a fraction of the cost. IMO I think Rich has about the best price shipped out the door and his turn around time is incredible. All of my racks use the iris tubs being they are completely flat on the bottom and each corner as a small foot so they dont sit directly on the heat tape...Hope this helps.
Re: Best budget racks-Juvi/Adult bp's
Thanks for the input. I have more or less ruled out all commercial racks because of price, but it is close, I could be convinced to spend the extra money for a better product and no hassle, but so far, the price is no where near low enough to consider that.
With that said, what do you all think would be the cheapest option available to house roughly a dozen (no less, up to 20 or so?) 32 or 41 qt tubs? Every time I think I have made a decision I end up finding a reason why another design may be better...
Just found out that sterilite has discontinued the tubs I would want, but that they are still available some places. I have 4 28qts that have the same height as potential 41's for versatility, but in order for the 28's to fit in 2 per slot instead of 1 41 qt, I would have to make it about 7 inches deeper. Any thoughts?
Re: Best budget racks-Juvi/Adult bp's
personally i built some using the container store tubs(made by iris)
they have cstc 375(15qt) and the cstc 570(32qt) tubs. you have to play with it a bit but i got both tubs in the same rack the 32qt tubs obviously must go in sideways. also i have back heat on them with no issue
on another note im just about ready to just cover the whole wall with flexawatt and just use shelving and brackets