Bulding a Rack for BP's

I don't want to spend $300 on a rack so I decided to build my own since I'm a pretty good carpenter. I'm going to get 4 tubs from wal-mart and I have a lot of 1" plywood that I will be using for the shelving, but I have a few questions...

1.) How much space should I leave around the top for air to flow in? Or should I drill holes around the tub and make the tub fit snugly in the rack?

2.) Where can I get the flexwat? and do you stick it to the "shelf" that the tub will sit on or on the back wall?

Hey Joe,

1) you should leave NO space on the top of the bin. Drill some holes in the tub to allow for airflow.

2) It depends on your carpentry skill, but the easy and safest way is to fix the flexxwatt to the back of shelving unit. You CAN do belly heat but unless its done properly (with a groove cut fot the flexxwatt so that the bin doesn't sit right on the flexxwatt) than you run a greater risk of causing friction on the heat tape and in turn a fire.

3) You can pick up flexxwatt from pretty much any reptile store. ALL of the expos have them and you can pick it up for cheep. You can buy it online (im not sure for your area, but do some research, its easy to find). I recommend buying the flexxwatt clips if you can find them. Its easier and safer than trying to solder it.

I hope I helped.

Cheers,
Chris.

So how will the tub sitting ont he flexwat cause a greater chance of fire? If the thermostat was on 94, that wouldn't be hot enought to cause a fire would it?

Many people do put it on the shelf. What he is saying is that you just need to be careful and make sure the tub in not too snug on the flexwatt because pulling the tub in and out of the rack can wear down the contacts and cause a short and could start an electrical fire. I just put a quick rack together out of some things I had and it will have back heat. When I build my next rack I plan on having belly heat and plan on taking a router to it to create a channel for the flexwatt.

I use lll reptile supply and reptile basics for all my reptile needs. LLL reptile doesnt have flexwatt but reptile basics has flexwatt in 3" 4" and 11" and has all the clips and stuff and will even attach the clips for you at no extra charge.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Nick_bp

I use lll reptile supply and reptile basics for all my reptile needs. LLL reptile doesnt have flexwatt but reptile basics has flexwatt in 3" 4" and 11" and has all the clips and stuff and will even attach the clips for you at no extra charge.

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This

I got my 3" 10 watt flexwatt from reptile basics for my custom 28qt male ball rack.