The Frugal Herper's Snake Rack

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Originally Posted by ChuckSM

For those asking, what shelves can they use instead or where I can buy these tubs.

You forget this is a do it yourself project, you can adapt it it fit any shelf or tub you want, just change the measurements.

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Very true! :gj:
If you look at my rack you'll see those shelves with the 3 sub-adult tubs...well I got those at a local Deals dollar-type store. Although they're 6 qt. tubs, they are lower in height (4") than shoebox tubs and have a wider surface (ground) area of 10" x 13.5". Finding a size tub like that was difficult, but when I did find them I bought all they had. :D

Overall this rack idea was the best inexpensive option out there. I only hope that Lowes continues to sell these shelving units and not decide to change styles unexpectedly. I had found a shelf unit that was almost identical made by Plano which was sold here in the midwest by Menards. They're sturdier and cheaper ($18.95 on sale) units, but the undersides of the shelves, the side that you glue the Eucaboard to each had 3 'ribs' that protruded about 3/4" beyond the lip that you glue to. Sure, you could probably trim it with a saw or tin snips, but that would have been 33 cuts for the tall rack I made, and I was running out of time with babies due to hatch!

If anyone has questions about building this DIY rack, post them here and I'll do my best to help! :salute:

I built one of these shelves to the exact specifications that were originally posted, and then for just a little bit more money got thompsons waterseal to go on the board. This seems to have cured the humidity problem. for the sagging I added small 1x1's to stand up in between the tubs this has seemed to cure the sagging, you can always go with smaller if you want i just made the extra room for them

What I use for glue on panels is white dry erasure board also sold at Lowes. Never any problems with moisture.

Update on pricing, at least here in the Plano/Frisco, Texas area. The shelving units at Lowe's are now $24.95. Not a big jump at all, but if you were building multiples or putting them back to back it would up the price a little.

Gotta check my lowes to see if i find any of these shelves soon ,great idea.

Has anyone made one of these recently? The reason I'm asking is because I have this exact shelf for a couple 20g tanks for my corn snakes and decided I would start stacking up on Sterilite 6qt tubs for my hatchling rack I planned on building. Only 3 tubs fit on the shelves! I'm wondering if Sterilite recently changed the dimensions of tubs from the original design.

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Originally Posted by mikebab

Has anyone made one of these recently? The reason I'm asking is because I have this exact shelf for a couple 20g tanks for my corn snakes and decided I would start stacking up on Sterilite 6qt tubs for my hatchling rack I planned on building. Only 3 tubs fit on the shelves! I'm wondering if Sterilite recently changed the dimensions of tubs from the original design.

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The cheaper Sterilite 6qt shoebox tubs have changed both size and shape over the years. I had to use the slightly more expensive Sterilite #1751 clip-top shoebox tub to get 4 across (see my photo a few posts back). They work just as well and accommodate 4 across with a bit of space to spare. They're still 6qt but don't have the taper that the standard shoeboxes have, which makes them ever-so-slightly too wide by an inch of so when placed 4 across.

I bought my #1751 tubs at Target. I believe that the tubs that Justin Kobylka used in his original design were Iris tubs that I think can be bought at the Container Store, but I don't see them on their website. You may want to drop Justin and email and ask him yourself, but chances are Iris tubs will cost more than the Sterilite #1751 tubs that I used. I think I paid $2 each when they were on sale.

I hope this helps and doesn't discourage you from using this rack design. I've been using mine for almost a year now and I love it! I almost wish I had a reason to build another now, just in case Lowes changes the design of the shelving units, if they haven't done so already. Good luck! :sweeet:

How well does this tolerate heat?

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Originally Posted by gold217

How well does this tolerate heat?

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How well does the "rack" tolerate heat???
I'm using flexwatt for belly heat which never gets above 92 degrees with a proper thermostat. Plus the shelf it's attached to isn't plastic, it's the pressboard in the instructions (remember this is a shelving unit turned upside-down). Overheating is not an issue and the rack I made has been serving my needs perfectly! :gj:

What is a problem though is that I was in Lowes last week and they changed the design of this $23 price-level shelving unit. It no longer has the lip at the back (the stop-edge for the tubs) and now has an uneven underside of the shelves without any edge to glue the pressboard shelves to. I was not able to measure to see if its dimensions changed, but I wouldn't be surprised if it's now smaller than the unit in this thread. :(

Looks like we'll all have to find another shelving unit to make this design work. What a pain! :mad:

Just wanted to let everyone know. Walmart has a Plano rack that is 18" wide and fits rubbermaid 41qt. We picked up two this weekend and are halfway done with our rack system that we are, so far, very happy with.

Each rack was about $35, had a level bottom to glue the board to with no protruding plastic, but did not have a lip for the backing. We plan on screwing the extra board to the back to solve that problem.

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Originally Posted by aldebono

Just wanted to let everyone know. Walmart has a Plano rack that is 18" wide and fits rubbermaid 41qt. We picked up two this weekend and are halfway done with our rack system that we are, so far, very happy with.

Each rack was about $35, had a level bottom to glue the board to with no protruding plastic, but did not have a lip for the backing. We plan on screwing the extra board to the back to solve that problem.

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I'm assuming this would be an adult rack? I would love to see photos of it once your done with it! :gj:

Id also love to see pics as well... on the verge of building my first rack and you and walmart helped drastically... :)

very nice and clean work!!

I like this idea!

I am very curious about the 41QT setup.
Any pics yet?

here is a link to my 28qt/41 qt design using this method
http://ball-pythons.net/forums/showt...er-150....easy
adam jeffery

Anyone Know where you can still get this shelving unit or was it discontinued?

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Originally Posted by Kylegep

Anyone Know where you can still get this shelving unit or was it discontinued?

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I picked up some 24" x 36" shelves from Lowe's (exclusive retailer for the brand I purchased).

It is no longer there, I did however pick up this unit to use instead. I think I wil be able to make additional levels really easy - http://www.lowes.com/pd_101933-1281-CR4824_4294936608+5003699_4294937087_?productId=1000527&Ns=p_product_prd_lis_ord _nbr|0||p_product_qty_sales_dollar|1&pl=1&currentURL=%2Fpl_50%2B100_4294936608%2 B5003699_4294937087_%3FNs%3Dp_product_prd_lis_ord_nbr%7C0%7C%7Cp_product_qty_sal es_dollar%7C1&facetInfo=$50%20-%20$100

Do you have any pics of the baby rack. I am confused the post stated they changed the design of selving and baby tubs? How did you get it to work. I would like to build one. Please advise? email me at funinthesun524@gmail.com

Thanks

Joe

I use this same method for my adults slightly different and I used heat cable taped to the shelf. But very cost efficient and gets the job done. Im thinking about making a baby rack as well.

to fix the *depth* issue u could use the eucoboard on top and bottom upping the price slightly but u could essentially make the shelfs deeper

Ok I need a price check...

Is $49.97 sound about right for a 5 shelf 36"Wx24"Dx72"H?
I also found one that was $34.97 and it was 5 shelf 36"Wx18"D.

Do they both sound reasonable? I thought the first one sounds a little high. But that's why I'm asking :)

Thanks,
SC

I'm thinking about building my rack this way. I like the idea of flipping the shelves upside down and glue the boards on the bottom of each shelf. My current rack use heat cable and each shelf is routed for the cable to flush evenly. My question is this, should I flush the heat tape on each boards or can I just tape it onto the board? I've never used a heat tape and I'm concerned that the bottom of each tubs could damage the heat tape?

Thank you for this idea!

Just finished building my first rack, a modified version of these plans (I found some 36"x18" shelves on sale quite cheap, along with some perfect hatchling/juvenile tubs from the dollar store). I've at least glanced at all of the entries on here & haven't seen this idea mentioned: if you don't have an electrical saw, or you DO have one but don't trust it to get the leg pieces even/uniform (this was the case with me), the tool for the job is an old-fashioned mitre box! As the author of this post mentioned, a hack saw will wear you out, but with a mitre box, it's nearly effortless cutting through a plastic leg, and the result is pretty well perfect every time.

Thanks again!

JR

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Originally Posted by digizure

I'm thinking about building my rack this way. I like the idea of flipping the shelves upside down and glue the boards on the bottom of each shelf. My current rack use heat cable and each shelf is routed for the cable to flush evenly. My question is this, should I flush the heat tape on each boards or can I just tape it onto the board? I've never used a heat tape and I'm concerned that the bottom of each tubs could damage the heat tape?

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I've used the same Flexwatt heat tape on the bottoms of each shelf for over 3 years without problems, for both adult and baby tubs. Just make sure that your tubs don't rub the wire connections and you'll be fine!

I just built these and have the following recommendations. First the originals shelves mentioned in this post from Lowes are long gone. Buy the HDX brand 5 shelves unit from Home Depot instead!
I got some different ones from Lowes and while they are fine shelves for general storage, for our purposes, the one's from HD are much better suited, because when you go to glue the bottoms on the shelves, there's nothing to glue to but 2 tiny ribs on the Lowes units, while the HD's have nice flat faces to glue to.
It has taken me several times of gluing to make the Lowes work, and it's still shaky at best. If they come loose I will probably can the whole deal and switch to the HDX brand. An fairly expensive mistake.
This is something you can't know until you build them, so take my advice.
The other thing is don't use the" pegboard material" , use the white sided laminated stuff, as it will be waterproof/resistant, and it's the same price.
You will have to modify your measurements from the plans for the cuts slightly. Just measure the racks distance between the posts and then front to back and you will be golden.
I will note that Lowes did cut my laminate board for free, and according to the post, HD charges for that?
Hope this helps...
Also buy your tubs after measuring whatever racks you get, don't assume you will find the perfect size to make the width fit.
I ended up going a bit bigger on the tubs with only 2 side by side. Of course you could put one big tub in per shelf, sideways, which will probably be my next rack...

A follow up. I COULD NOT get the glue to stick sufficiently to the Lowes racks, so I am off to Home Depot now to buy more racks. :-(
Getting a glue to stick seems to be the hardest part!!! I have tried 3 different kinds now...

OK ! I have basically built these 3 times now!!! The glue is definitely an issue to get to stick to the plastic.
I will say this up front. I have bought some pre-built racks from various makers and I say IF YOU CAN AFFORD IT, go that route! They are nicer, more compact, look better, enclosed, better heat retention, etc.
But I got too far into this gig to turn back....
What I ended up using was contact cement. Lather it on, wait 15 minutes to tack up, and then you are done! No waiting overnight, only to find that the glue did not work!
I did not use GOOP, which may have been a mistake, but it seemed I would need several tubes and I didn't want to drop $20 just on glue.

Has anyone expanded these after the initial build? I'm going to be doing a 24" deep four shelf for 28qt Sterilite tubs right now, but was wondering if I should just go ahead and double up on it (which would be stretching the budget) or if I could just take off the top shelf and add another on top fairly easily in the future.

http://i.imgur.com/yxzVZDZ.jpg

Used the 24" deep shelving unit from Home Depot. Everything else is pretty much the same except for the ecuboard, which I painted with a couple of coats of weatherproof paint to seal it from moisture. I was going to use the markerboard that was suggested, but Home Depot only had the 2x4 sheets for $11 a piece instead of the $24 for 4 deal that was posted on their web site. Oddly, it fits two 32qt Sterilite tubs per shelf with no modification to the legs even though, based on the measurements, it shouldn't. I guess it's because the tub measurements are including the tops which are not being used.

Still waiting on heat tape to show up, then I'll level all the shelves, set the clearance, add the heat tape, screw them together, and start filling it up.

I'm looking at 2 sizes for the HDX 5-Shelf. One is 36 in. W x 72 in. H x 18 in. D for $34.97 and the other is 24 in. D x 36 in. W x 72 in. H for $49.97. Which one should I get?

We did a smaller one of these just for 3 tubs. Theyre great because no matter your needs you can make them work!

Sent from my GT-P3113 using Tapatalk now Free

I am making a rack similar to tjis but for 2 15qt tubs and 1 34 qt sterilite tube. It is interchangeable for the tubs if you keep the lids on. My question is can th eheat tape go directly onto the plastic shelf it's self? Or do I have to put foil tape down then heat tape ?

Very interesting. Going to try this. If this saves..

HDX Shelving unit 24 in. D x 36 in. W x 72 in. H for $49.97
Saw these on sale the other day at home depot for 39.97 , price drop of $10.00 so picked one up. A question I have on the build is it necessary to screw the plastic tubes to
the shelf units? Is this done just to stabilize the shelf unit?

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Originally Posted by Turkemon

A question I have on the build is it necessary to screw the plastic tubes to the shelf units? Is this done just to stabilize the shelf unit?

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I screwed the tubes on mine and I'm glad I did because over time the shelves settle and you can end up with tighter rows that will make it difficult to slide the tubs in/out easily. When I built mine I used the tubs themselves as a spacer for shelf height and then screwed the tubes to the shelf to make the height rigid, yet even with the screws the shelves settled ever-so-slightly over time. If I were to build one again I would have used a sheet of plastic (or some other item/material) an 1/8th inch thick to place over the tubs to give a slight more space between the shelves, because gravity will tighten the shelves over time, even with screws! I happen to like easy sliding tubs. 😁

Thanks for telling us about the shelving units at Home Depot! 👍

I built a couple of these and they work great! After the first one you can build in no time! Most bang for the buck, especially when you get into the bigger tubs.
And remember you can use any tubs on a shelf ( as long as they are the same) as you are custom fitting each shelf height for those particular tubs. So you could mix and match different brands on different shelves.
Totally customized to what YOU want!! I totally agree with screwing the tubes in place too, absolutely necessary to keep from settling over time.

This was probably asked or mentioned at some point, but can't you just flip the shelves upside down and use the ribbed underside for heat rope and this would put the solid sides over the tubs to keeps the reptiles confined too? I might have to try it myself if not...