Rack System Questions

I was looking into getting a small snake rack and have some questions. How do you maintain proper humidity? Would one Herpstat 1 be enough for 1 rack? Does a Herpstat show humidity? What size tubs are best for ball pythons? Is heat tape safe? And are they the best option for snake keeping?

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Originally Posted by futurebpowner

I was looking into getting a small snake rack and have some questions.

How do you maintain proper humidity? A water bowl gives enough humidity to allow for good sheds inside the tubs for me. Some put the water bowls over the hot side to give more humidity when a snake is going into shed.

Would one Herpstat 1 be enough for 1 rack? I don't personally have that thermostat, I use the VE-200: http://www.reptilebasics.com/thermostats. But yes, one thermostat per rack should be fine.

Does a Herpstat show humidity? I don't believe it does - a digital thermometer that shows temps and humidity can be used inside the tub to show ambient temps and humidity levels. Some thermometers have a probe that you can use to show direct hot side temps but I use ambient/humidity ones and use a temp gun for checking the hot spot

What size tubs are best for ball pythons? Varies on who you ask and what size the BP(s) are. I personally start out little ones in 15-24 qts (with lots of cover and hides) and I have adults in 34qts. 41qts seem the norm for adults though.

Is heat tape safe? IMO Yes, when used with a thermostat. I haven't had any problems with my flexwatt.

And are they the best option for snake keeping? All personal opinion. I personally really like the racks for my balls as each seem more secure in them and they eat better. When I kept my first BP in a tank I had a hard time with temps and getting her to eat but once I switched to tubs/racks I've had much better luck. I don't recommend racks for every snake species of course but do recommend tubs/racks for balls.

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Humidity in a rack comes partially from the room and the rest substrate and water bowl size and location.

A herpstat 1 is a great choice as long as you room is not cooler than 75º if that is the case you may need a HS2 or HS4 because a single heat source may not be enough.

Yes the herpstat one, two, and four will with the addition of a humidity probe HOWEVER a herpstat one only has a single probe so it can, but it cannot control a heat source at the same time.

A 32qt tub rack will work for adult, sub adults very large females may require larger.

Heat tape is as safe as the installer. It often requires electrical installation so the competency of that effects the safety. The second thing is I do not believe a heat source should be able to max out past 100ºF. Some heat tapes will exceed this others do not. Same holds true for UTHs.

IMO no a rack is not the best option. It saves a huge amount of space. It is harder to heat than a well designed custom enclosure, humidity is about the same, and I find them far harder to clean. (twice the surfaces to clean wash disinfect in a smaller space.)

So is this a good rack or is it too small for an adult? Where is the best place to get racks?

I like Cerpents racks (cserpents.com). They're very well made, come with tubs, are solid all the way around so they hold heat better. They usually ship the next day (no 6-8 week lead time like with some other racks!). You can keep babies in 41 qt tubs if you need (I have a girl that arrived at 250 grams that is doing just fine), but a rack with 16 or 28/32 qt tubs will be a good range. Once you get some girls up to size then you might need a 41 qt, but you can easily keep adult males in 32 qt tubs for life