DIY rack

Ok guys I just wanted to come on here and let everyone know I decided to build a custom rack for when i purchase more ball pythons. I'm using all melamine and its all cut to spec. I'll be posting pictures when its finished so you guys can check it out. Just out of curiousity, Would it be bad if i left like 1/4 inch of spece between the top of the tub and the bottom of the shelf above it as a lid?

Hi,

Depends on how you feel about your snakes getting their noses scraped to all bejeebus while trying to force them through the gap?

Or to put it another way. Yes.

Especially if there are smaller, younger snakes - those might actually manage to get more of their body through and either escape alltogether or be more seriously hurt.

Remember if a snake gets jammed at the back or sides of the rack you might not be able to see it before trying to open the tub as normal.

Remember to leave space for the heat tape if it is to be belly heat but try and aim for a final gap between an 16th and an 8th of an inch if you can.

I used two cd's (without cases ) as a guideline when I built mine.


dr del

Quote:

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Originally Posted by dr del

I used two cd's (without cases ) as a guideline when I built mine.


dr del

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Same here and it came out perfect, althought i had to do it twice, for some reason with 1 cd some tubs were really snug when i was done. also when you get the melamine cut double check the measurements because some of mine were about 1/4" short.

Yeah,

I had heard the old saw "measure twice cut once" unfortunately I forgot to translate that to "measure accurately twice cut in a straight line once. :oops:


dr del

Quote:

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Originally Posted by dr del

Yeah,

I had heard the old saw "measure twice cut once" unfortunately I forgot to translate that to "measure accurately twice cut in a straight line once. :oops:


dr del

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LOL...i think the HD guy cut mines like that on purpose since he did not want to cut it in the first place but i made it work.

you might want to try a piece of cardboard. We used 2 cds and it was very very tight. Also we used a router to cut the places for the heat tape. You can check it out on DIY if you would like.

1/4 inch seems like too much room.

[img]http://img708.imageshack.us/img708/1671/rack1.jpg[/img]
[img]http://img96.imageshack.us/img96/4070/rack2q.jpg[/img]

Not the best piece of work, shelves are spaced a little off so i need to make some thin spacers to keep the tubs tight. But it holds 4 small sterilite containers, 3 med which i think are 12qt, 2 of the larger ones which are 28qt, or a single 41qt on each shelf

Quote:

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Originally Posted by dr del

Hi,

Depends on how you feel about your snakes getting their noses scraped to all bejeebus while trying to force them through the gap?

Or to put it another way. Yes.

Especially if there are smaller, younger snakes - those might actually manage to get more of their body through and either escape alltogether or be more seriously hurt.

Remember if a snake gets jammed at the back or sides of the rack you might not be able to see it before trying to open the tub as normal.

Remember to leave space for the heat tape if it is to be belly heat but try and aim for a final gap between an 16th and an 8th of an inch if you can.

I used two cd's (without cases ) as a guideline when I built mine.


dr del

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i'm in the planning stages of building another rack, and i've been wondering how people make the "tolerance" spaces between the tubs and the shelf.

when i built my corn rack i built the rectangle frame, installed a temporary shelf in the middle to keep it from collapsing, and then put the bins on the bottom shelf, laid the shelf that was to be installed on top of the bins, and drilled the screws in. then i just worked up from there. i didn't need to create any space for flexwatt for this rack, as i was using back heat.

i'm wondering how people do it with bigger tubbed racks? i am going to be building 2x6 slot racks, with 28qt tubs for my adult corns.

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i'm wondering how people do it with bigger tubbed racks? i am going to be building 2x6 slot racks, with 28qt tubs for my adult corns.

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use sterilite tubs, you can get them from walmart, the 12, 28, and 41 qt tubs are all the same height, the 6 qt tubs are an inch shorter.