Building a Rack--Questions

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?

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?

When I made mine, I put a piece of eucaboard (pegboard without the holes) between the tub and the shelf to use as a spacer. It's maybe 1/8-1/4in thick. Probably closer to 1/8in. I then still had to drill some holes to keep the humidity down. This proved to be too much spacing for some of my smaller corns and milks, but keeps the young BPs in just fine.

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?

ReptileBasics.com. I stuck mine to the shelf with foil tape. There's lots of debate about back heat vs belly heat. Search the forums for more info. I think belly heat is most widely used with BPs though... (don't quote me)

You can either drill holes in the tubs and have it fit snuggly in between the plywood (when you measure for the tubes between the shelves make sure u use about 4 old cd's to place at each corner of the tub... in doing this it will give you just enough space so that the tub will slide in and out easy but keep your snakes in) or drill no holes and use the pegboard WITH the holes instead of the plywood. (you may not want to spend the extra cash for this though. I wouldn't but I'm throwing it in there anyway) I saw someone do this on the internet and they said they didn't have a problem keeping humidity in.

As far as heat goes IMO I would shoot for belly heat 3-4" flexwatt found at herpsupplies.com, reptilebasics, etc... I would watch a video on youtube if I were you so you can see the proper way to install it. Hope I helped. Good luck!!!

Thanks! I think the most confusing part will be wiring flexwatt.

Wiring the flexwatt is easy. Reptile basics sell clips that help. I would be careful about normal plywood as it can have some sap in it. they sell lamanated stuff tho for fairly cheap at lowes and home depot. Also there is a diy (Do It Yourself) forum here you may want to look at

I used a sheet of melamine the 49" x 96" it was 40 bucks at home depot and you can make a 5 tub 28 quart rack out of it with melamine sides all out of one sheet i actually bought two of those sheets and made the 5 tub 28 quart rack and i made a 5 tub 41 quart rack , the 41 quart i used four 2" x 4" x 4' for the sides to hold the shelves so i spent around $90 for two racks.I like melamine because they don't sag later but there a little heavy which is why i used 2" x 4" for the sides on the 41 quart rack to cut down the weight, wiring up heat tape is easy look on this forum and you will find it.

Hope this helps you.And also if you want the measurements i used for my racks i will gladly help.

I just ordered a bunch of stuff from Rich at Reptilebasics. He has the BEST customer service I have ever dealt with. As far as spacing I cut 4 2x4's to the height I wanted and placed them in the corners and screwed my shelves on.I want to say I left about a 1/8th gap all around the tubs. I am getting ready to build a rack system that will hold 30 41qt tubs. I will get some pics up when I get it built.

The only ace that has melamine around here is a 4x8 sheet for $80!

WOW, I got 8 4x8 sheets today of 3/4 inch for 28 bucks each.

Home depot or lowes has melamine...and for heat use 1 piece of heat tape...my first rack i used 5 different pieces of 3in tape and had 5 different plugs....pain in the ass...i used 2 different thermostats and plugged 3 shelves into 1 and the shelves would never be the same...and 1 shelf got so hot it burnt my girl...so for my new rack {thanks to simple man}i used 1 piece and ran it from top to bottom.