ARS or Freedom Breeder rodent rack?

Hey guys, I'm trying to decide between getting either a ARS or Freedom Breeder rat rack.

Does anyone have anything good or bad to say about either setup?

It depends on how long your going to keep them. If you have a strong plan that will let you to breed for a few more years, go for either. I like the ARS tubs more because they are not clear. Sometimes it helps to have light blocking tubs for nursing mothers.

I would just build the rack yourself. The money that goes into a home built rack is so much less.

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Originally Posted by bokuza

It depends on how long your going to keep them. If you have a strong plan that will let you to breed for a few more years, go for either. I like the ARS tubs more because they are not clear. Sometimes it helps to have light blocking tubs for nursing mothers.

I would just build the rack yourself. The money that goes into a home built rack is so much less.

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Cool racks, both of them but you can build 10 racks for the price of one that will do the same thing IMO. I know a guy with a Freedom Breeder that loves it.

Regards,

B

I have ARS and love them. They are both very similar and you can't go wrong with either. You might want to go with ARS because the shipping will be a little cheaper, since you are on the east coast.

Good info guys thank you.

I will not be building my own rack. This is going to be a small breeding operation/side project and I'm not going to need more than a few levels of a ARS or Freedom Breeder. I love the look of these racks and feel they are worth the money.

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Originally Posted by Don

I have ARS and love them. They are both very similar and you can't go wrong with either. You might want to go with ARS because the shipping will be a little cheaper, since you are on the east coast.

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ARS quoted me about $55 by greyhound bus. I've been trying to contact Freedom Breeder since last week for a shipping quote but so far Jeff has not gotten back to me about it, I'm guessing they are busy or something.
Does anyone know typical shipping rates for their racks? You think it would be more than $100 shipping for 2 levels?

If you have a lot of money to burn, go with either. If not, build your own. They work just as good, and are a ton less money. You can even implement a gravity-fed watering system into a built racks.

One thing to keep in mind is that these racks are an investment. A homemade wooden rack will very likely need to be repaired and eventually replaced after a few years of use. A metal rack will likely last 20+ years without any significant problems.

I'm investing in ARS racks for my snakes, but elected to build my own rodent racks. I know they won't last as long, but I couldn't justify spending that much money on a rodent rack until I start bringing in some good money with the snakes.

For what it's worth, I love my ARS snake racks, and actually used their small tubs to build my rat birthing rack. You can't go wrong with ARS.

I personally use the Freedom Breeder racks for my rodents and I'm very happy with them. You really cant go wrong with either company.

I have a FB rat rack. It's great, but I only paid $500 for it. I would never spend $1000-1700 on a prefab rack, that's outrageous... But, I did add up how much it would cost to make a rack with metal like the FB style. It would have cost me $800+ in materials alone, not to mention my time to weld it up... I sell these made out of wood for half that...

These are the racks I build/use/sell. They are great, hold up and cost 1/3 of a prefab rack... My original rack that I built 4 years ago is still being used with no problems at all, besides from a bad valve every now and then. But, I use the same valve as the FB rack, so it will happen no matter what....
http://ball-pythons.net/gallery/show...=3&userid=6019
http://ball-pythons.net/gallery/show...=3&userid=6019

A FB rack of 4 levels(12tubs) is over $1000 before shipping! Mine are 14 tub and less than half.
Save your money!!
I acutally had someone tell me, over this arguement, that you can't take the wood racks out and hose them down. Um, when do you ever have a rack that's empty to be able to take it out back and hose it down?! I know I don't.

****NOTE TO MODS... I'm not trying to sell them a rack... just pointing out the cost savings...*****

Thank you for all the inputs about DIY racks. There is nothing wrong with homemade wooden racks, I know some professionals (people making their living off selling feeders) that use all wooden racks, but I am choosing to use a steel setup.
I will not be building my own or buying a wooden rack.

Right now I am just trying to choose between ARS or FB. So far it seems they are about the same build and quality wise. The only difference seems to be shipping price and customer service. Brian from ARS has been much better at responding to my inquiries. I've been waiting almost 2 weeks on a reply from Jeff @ FB for a shipping quote.

Does anyone know another manufacture of steel rodent racks besides FB or ARS?