kid proof rack lol (pics)

Ok, so I have two children (almost 2 and 3½) and they are *usually* really good about leaving the animals and their cages alone however since our little run in with our eldest awhile back and him "smooshing" our red eye tree frogs (all of them were fine!) i cant trust him with any of the animals. our exoterra frog home has a lock, they dont know how to get the rat cage open and the beardeds tank is far too high for them to open that either... which leaves one HUGE issue, the rack. i have heard of people using pins to keep bins inside the rack but i know my little curious children would figure that out in no time flat so i have been brainstorming an idea to keep them out of the rack, and the snakes in the rack.

so heres what we did.. we got four (they didnt have five) 27" little spring shower curtain rods and some fabric and walla... i opened the rods up far enough that there is enough tension for my husband and i to be able to release but there is no way the 3yr old can get them off. were going back for another rod tomorrow for the last bin, but hers is the most snug out of all the shelves. we have alot of lights on at night and i like the snakes to be able to have their darkness on schedule and when we have company over we can drop the "drape" and we have a nice discreet looking end table. so here ya go, let me know what you think HAHAHAHAHA as they say, necessity is the mother of all inventions.

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3193/...2ae1985ba4.jpg

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2206/...2f0f09bd70.jpg

feel free to move this to the caging forum.. :oops:

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Originally Posted by AshleyB

feel free to move this to the caging forum.. :oops:

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:gj:

That was a great idea! Are you sure the oldest won't be able to somehow "yank" the rods off though? It's also aesthetically pleasing... curtain and all.

If you watch some of Ralph Davis's videos on youtube, you'll see a upright metal rod that goes through the rack system just in front of the bins, and it sort of latches, lifting it up out of the base, then down out of the top to remove it. A clip through the rod in the right spot, and it would be non-removable, until you remove the clip. That way you wouldn't have to worry that the children might figure out the pulling off or twisting to remove of the shower bars.

Gotta say, neat solution though. Hope it works! Way to go for thinking outside the box, so to say.

:) thanks everyone... we will see how things go. we didnt want to have to modify the rack (drilling holes, exc) so for now i think this will have to do lol.

Very innovative.