rack is worse than i thought

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Originally Posted by recycling goddess

i haven't talked to my hubby about moving the shelves up a little each... i will when he wakes up. ;)

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Just keep in mind that means basically starting over as you will end up removing all the supports to re-router them and then remove all the screws to move the shelves up. :rolleyes:

Ok...just to put your mind at ease I went and measured some of my snakes :)


14 days old hatchling - 75 grams = 3/4" thick (mid back)
7 month old - 462 grams = 1.5" thick (mid-back - bad eater)
12 month old - 1300 grams = 2.75" thick (mid-back - great eater)

On my main rack (where all the but the hatchlings are) my tubs also have an irregular lip...that at the front and back are 3/8" gaps and on the sides are 1/4" gaps

To date I have never had a snake escape or try to escape.:D

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Originally Posted by Subzero

Id say 3/8 gap is no good. Once they put thier nose up there they will realize that they may be able to wedge themselves out, and they will try and succeed the long sides of the 41 qt tub bent easily Ideal gap would be 1/8 of one inch.

Best fix idea would be this, Go to home depot and buy some plexi glass 2/8ths thick and have them cut it to fit the roof space of your rack. then screw them into the cieling area of each tub, this way you fill the gab and the moisture from in the tub for damage your wood ;)

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Genius idea, IMO. It might be costly though, but surely good for long term durability of the rack.

sean,

thank you so much :hug: i appreciate that. i'm going to leave the rack as is, except adding the front and back stops for the tubs.

;) these snakes should be close to a year old when i get them.

i hoped adam would chime in... as to his thoughts on this since he has my snakes in his possession... but i'm guessing by his non-response he's in agreement - as i can't see him not speaking up if he felt the rack would not work for the snakes ;)

I am just glad I could help my friend out. :colbert2:

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Originally Posted by recycling goddess

sean,

thank you so much :hug: i appreciate that. i'm going to leave the rack as is, except adding the front and back stops for the tubs.

;) these snakes should be close to a year old when i get them.

i hoped adam would chime in... as to his thoughts on this since he has my snakes in his possession... but i'm guessing by his non-response he's in agreement - as i can't see him not speaking up if he felt the rack would not work for the snakes ;)

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Didn't he give his imput to you in chat? Otherwise I'd call him up and talk about it with him. I'd be worried about a snake getting its head out...and not able to push it out or pull it back in... I'd raise the tubs and close that gap.

Just my two cents. Not worth any risk. I have 06' Pastels from Adam...well mine are about 600 grams right now...but I still wouldn't trust them with that much of a gap.

no he didn't jason. at least i didn't see it if he did. he said he was leaving... ... ... ... oh and he said to email him. i forgot about that. good thing you reminded me... thanks!

off to email him now.

okay so adam wasn't comfy with the gap... so we've redone the rack and it's such a tight fit i'm concerned... i hope it ends up okay once the flexwatt is in place.

but trust me... no snake can move these bins out... i can barely get them out!!! :P

Being too tight is probably an even worse problem, since the rack is going to settle even more. At least with the big gap, the lids could have been popped on.

When making my racks, I use 4 normal cd's under each corner of the tub and use that measurement as a spacer. With the flexwatt and foil tape underneath the tub, it ends up being a perfect gap of about 1/8". This is after the rack has settled and is at it's final measurement. The cd's are good to use because they are a uniform shape. I tried using folded pieces of printer paper but those were never uniform(because of my wonky folding.. hehe).

I'm currently building another behemoth of a rack out of 3/4" melamine coated particle board; 8 slots that can fit either 8-32qts or 16-15qts. It's only 25"x18"x58" and is going to be such a barrel of fun to move :) .. Ok, it's actually NOT that heavy, but still..

Hope that helps Aleesha!

well my hubby insists on notching out the boards to fit the bottom of each rack... so they are tightly fitted into their notches.

i'll see what happens... can't do anything about it right now. this has been such a pain in the butt experience... :rainon:

3/16" gap is plenty big enough. Anything more is to much anything less is not enough.
Several of the rack companys use this spacing.

so it's almost done... and by that i mean, my hubby is going to add one more shelf onto the top... but for today... for now... it's done.

http://www.timelessspirit.com/images.../snakerack.jpg

and the gap is now very small and none of the snakes will be able to get out. i have to 'muscle' the tubs out... so i can't imagine how the snakes could do it :P

http://www.timelessspirit.com/images/snakes/gap.jpg


CITES GODS... I'M READY WILLING AND ABLE TO HOUSE MY SNAKES AT MY HOUSE NOW... INSTEAD OF ADAM'S!!! :please:

AAAWwwwwww.... It looks GREAT! :D Hoping for all the red tape to be cut for ya! ;)

Love the kitty in the background of the first picture...probably wondering what the heck all the fuss is about. All anyone ever needs is a warm, snuggly piece of carpet...preferably elevated. :D

that's jayden... one of our little 'rescue' kittens. she was happy to get a nice little pet session once i took the pic.

laura... and everyone else... i think that i know officially have enough red tape to supply the entire population LOL (well theoretically... adam has the tape! as he's a sweetie for wading through it on my behalf!)

Aleesha...the rack is looking much better...I always like it when people go the extra mile to paint their racks it just seems to complete them and they look so much better.


Good Job! :)

*sends Aleesha quick CITES vibes*

oh man the painting of this rack... was a good 10,000 miles :P i wanted to paint it in pieces... but my hubby insisted on putting it together first... well we couldn't get into the rack very well so the paint job is horrid.

hahahahahaha..... MEN!

This may have been asked and answered in this thread already but i decided not to read all 7 pages , :)

but what size tubs are those ??

they are a rubbermaid 40L tub.

approx 30x16.5x6 (going by memory)

up here in canada i couldn't get the usual tub everyone else uses. i picked these up at london drugs for $20 a piece

Nice rack! It is so cool how having a rack-style of caging makes things so much easier.

omgoddess jen, i can't believe how much easier and quicker things are already!!! changing water is a breeeeeeze now. as is feeding.

i looove it.

That's a gorgeous rack indeed... Where abouts in Canada are you?

I have managed to find the Sterlite (sp) tubs that people here seem so fond of, but's always at liquidation places and clearance houses...

Quick question though... Where did you manage to find a non-crappy proportional thermostat??? I discovered my old one was broken the other day and have been calling every place I can think of with no luck.

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Originally Posted by recycling goddess

omgoddess jen, i can't believe how much easier and quicker things are already!!! changing water is a breeeeeeze now. as is feeding.

i looove it.

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Isn't it the bomb?
Did I just use the phrase "the bomb"? lol

yes you did girl!!!

i found one at walmart!

You must have better Walmarts than me then... I spent 2 hours walking around both of the ones here.... I hate them, and found nothing! I couldn't even find a good digital thermometer, although Canadian tire rescued me with that one :)