Animal Plastics. Racks or Cages

Hello Everyone!

So I'm looking into upgrading my BP's enclosures(from tubs on the floor hehe) and Animal Plastics seems like my best bet. I've heard good things about them and it seems like a lot of people choose them. My only problem is, rack system or their cages? I'm currently looking at either their 6 shelf CB70 racks and their T3 terrestrial cages. My main concern with both of them is the wiring and heating. How do you set them up? Does the rack need only one outlet and thermostat? And The Cages? Do they need multiple stats and outlets? I don't want to buy something without actually knowing how to set them up. any insight would be very helpful and please show pics!

I have a six shelf CB70 and I couldn't be more pleased with it. It runs off of one thermostat and one outlet. Assembly was easy if you are handy at all, everything fit together perfectly. I opted for side heat plus back heat, as I was worried my room would be a little cool in the winter. As it turns out, it maintains temperature perfectly except for the bottom tub which runs 4 or 5 degrees cooler than the others. I haven't been using the bottom tub for that reason until yesterday, I put a snake in there to see how it would do. I'm keeping a close eye on her, I may just have to use this as a five shelf rack, but then the bottom tub has been useful in storing assorted snake paraphernalia. I'd show pics, but they wouldn't be any better than theirs.

rack vs. cage depends on personal preference so i'll just discuss heating. a properly wired rack only needs 1 reliable thermostat. for an enclosure like a T3 or T8, it depends on how many heatsources u are using. if u are using both a heatpad and a radiant heat panel, u would need 2 thermostats or something like a Heprstat 2 that could handle both.


and here's a tutotial on how to setup a PVC age (AP T8): https://ball-pythons.net/forums/show...-With-Pictures!

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Originally Posted by ScottS

I have a six shelf CB70 and I couldn't be more pleased with it.

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CB70s are in my opinion, too small for adult ball pythons. They are too short (~5.5 inches high) and too narrow if you ball python grows larger than ~2000g. You can't get an appropriately sized hide in there.

Why not get an animal plastics T-8? They are 12" longer and, ironically, $25 cheaper than the T-3. No reason not to go larger. A rack, typically, only needs one thermostat for a length of heat tape. A cage can require more than one thermostat depending on how you set it up. Fortunately, with the advent of herpstats 2,4, and 6, you can run up to 6 thermostats on one home outlet. Whether or not you need 1-2 thermostats per cage can depend on your home conditions. For example, if you house runs fairly cold (high 60s), then you may want to add a heat pad or 2nd heat panel assuming you are using a single radiant heat panel as your primary heat source.

I use radiant heat panels (RHP) for my plastic enclosures from pro products. I for my 4' enclosures, I use a P-3 heat panel, which is 65 watts. A quick google search will show you a variety of ways to set up an animal plastics enclosure or similar-style setup (boaphile, constrictors NW, etc.), but generally, you place the RHP on your "hot side" with the thermostat probe dangling on the wall behind it or affixed just below it. I have seen either approach work.

A rack gives you more snakes per square foot, but enclosures give the snakes more room and are aesthetically more pleasing. Both are fairly easy to set up.