The best racks? Homemade or over priced wallet killers?

Where did you get yours? Did you make them? How it is that working out?

I was told by my local pet store owner there is a really good video how to floating around ( I haven't even looked to be honest )

He also told me there is a snake tub site that sells the PERFECT size to go with the above mentioned video.

-Mark :rolleye2:

I have one kind of homemade from JWexotics.com Jake Wallace he is on here also, Great guy . and I actually just ordered today a CB-70 from Reptile Basics. If i had the time I would probably make my own.

My husband and I just recently made our own. We used the tutorial posted here. We love it! It took a few hours to build but wasn't really that hard considering neither of us have ever built anything before.

I bought both of my racks pre-made (one new, one used), since I'm really hopeless at building stuff... the more expensive one cost $300 shipped, and honestly I think I could have done better myself. :cool: The other I bought used from Skiploder for $100, and it was worth every penny. So really I think it depends on how much you spend, and the overall quality of the rack. If you can build a decent one yourself for under $100, I say go for it! But if you can find a good deal on a nice pre-made rack, I personally prefer the convenience of that... it's also nice when they come pre-wired with heat, and especially when they're assembled and ready to go.

Here are my racks... the one on the far right was the $100 used rack, which I really like, and the other is the one I'm not happy with (mostly b/c I don't like having to use lids).

http://i131.photobucket.com/albums/p...DSCF5299-1.jpg

I bought the VE rack from Animal Plastics and picked up is 900 bucks without tubs. I just ordered another one as well.

Having had it its worth every penny.

If I'd wanted home made, I'd have made one. Home made racks to me are ugly, and I like to have nice stuff. I don't want to buy the best thermostats and nicest examples of an animal I can to put them in a cheap home made rack.

The quality AP puts into their products, as well as the customer service is superb.

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Originally Posted by 2kdime

I bought the VE rack

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VE Rack? Link?

The pre built ones are the nicest looking but you do pay for it. Depending on how big of a rack you need you can do it under $100. I got a nice entertainment center for free, it will hold 8 16 qt tubs or 4 32qt tubs. All i need is heat which is cheap.

There are alot of cabinet type deals that are cheap and look great. I think when you order a rack you pay for the looks and ease of moving since most are all plastic

The VE-175 rack man!!

Under the "Whats new" section

http://www.animalplastics.com/

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Originally Posted by Patrick Long

VE Rack? Link?

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I've been wondering this too, considering that I'll soon need to either buy more tanks, create a rack, or buy one.

Can someone clarify what it means to get a "quality" rack? What exactly is it that one should/should not be looking for? If there's a way to meet the standard for a quality rack when building from home then that would save some bucks and a headache in the future.

For my ball pythons I have a Freedom Breeder medium rack, 2 V-70 Vision Product racks, and a V-35 Vision rack. I have built 4 custom melamine racks for my cousin's boas. I like mine, easy to move if needed, easy to clean, him and his snakes loves his too. The only bad thing about his is that they are really heavy, where ever you put them is where they need to stay. His actually holds heat and humidity way better than mine. I payed WAY more for mine...I built him a rack that holds 12 cb70 tubs for around $250, one of my Vision V-70 racks has 11 tubs and cost about $1000!!! I think I will be building my own from now on too.

Here's a small rack that I just got done building. It will hold 8 15qt. tubs.
I still have some finishing work to do like put some edge banding on the top of the two sides and put those white screw covers on the screw heads that are recessed, and maybe a back. I cut the melamine my self with a circular saw. I added a kick plate on the bottom for looks and I kept a gap on the top to allow for the cords to fit through. I left around 3/16" gap between tubs and shelf. I still have to add the Flexwatt Heat Tape and more tubs.Came out pretty nice I think!
What do you think?
http://i153.photobucket.com/albums/s...rt-of-rack.jpg
http://i153.photobucket.com/albums/s...th63/rack1.jpg

http://i153.photobucket.com/albums/s...om-of-rack.jpg

http://i153.photobucket.com/albums/s...op-of-rack.jpg

Wallet killers is deffinetly wrong. Go to repti-racks.com. I got a 6 slot sub adult snake rack for 209 heated and shipped. You cant beat it. And the customer service is amazing. The actual product is great too. I love my rack and i dont regret paying for it at all. Id rather spend the extra 50-75 bucks on the professionally made, safe, and long lasting product compared to a average melamine rack that can sag with humidity, weigh 3 times more, and last alot less time.

Contact Steve at repti-racks. You wont be disapointed.

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Originally Posted by redstormlax12

Wallet killers is deffinetly wrong. Go to repti-racks.com. I got a 6 slot sub adult snake rack for 209 heated and shipped. You cant beat it. And the customer service is amazing. The actual product is great too. I love my rack and i dont regret paying for it at all. Id rather spend the extra 50-75 bucks on the professionally made, safe, and long lasting product compared to a average melamine rack that can sag with humidity, weigh 3 times more, and last alot less time.

Contact Steve at repti-racks. You wont be disapointed.

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That is a good deal! :gj: But I had the melamine just sitting in the basement, it basically cost me $5.00 so far for the screws.

We have made all of our racks except for one which we purchased used. Ours are made from melamine. I can say the first 2 racks we made where okay the last 2 where better. Homemade racks can look nice as long as you take your time with them. All our racks are on nice castors so they can be moved easily and that helps. The only professionally made racks I would use are heavy duty freedom breeder style ones. I love the way they look but I dont have the room or money for one so that is why we make ours.

I am a solid animal plastics customer.... I love my economy racks... I have a rack that holds 6 32 qt tubs with heat shipped for less than 300 dont remember exact amount, am fixing to sell that rack to my brother in law, and upgrade to a 10 shelf rack that is 440 shipped.... pricing is good, heat tape is recessed into rack, very solid nice units, and they have always been quite helpful.

I have a melamine rack and lidded tubs on heat tape.
Both ways work, tubs on heat tape is as simple as it gets and works very well for ball pythons.

I actually prefer my tubs versus my rack as you can see the breeding going on from 5 feet away, no disturbing their "comfy time".
Feeding live I can watch from 5 feet away out of sight of the snake, sometimes standing right up on them disturbs the process and then they don't eat :(

I'll upgrade as I go along, but starting with just basic tubs and heat tape and a thermostat is not a bad thing.

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Originally Posted by 2kdime

Home made racks to me are ugly, and I like to have nice stuff. I don't want to buy the best thermostats and nicest examples of an animal I can to put them in a cheap home made rack.

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I don't know why, but the above statement just kind of rubbed me the wrong way. I have built all of my adult snake racks over the years. I originally built my own, as I was more interested in spending my money on nice animals, versus caging that I could build and supply the same environment for my snake. I also bought the highest quality thermostats, so that my heat would be the most reliable.

I do understand your argument though, and beauty is in the eye of the beholder.

IMO, the best racks are the overpriced wallet killers, but I also have made my own. They both work fine, but I do like my RBI racks better. At one point, I owned an adjustable breeder rack, which is just like the original freedom breeder rack. I hated it. The open-air system was terrible at holding heat and humidity. The newer freedom breeder systems have supposable fixed this issue though. If you do end up building your own, I highly suggest using melamine sheets. Although they are very heavy, they hold heat and humidity very well.

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Originally Posted by saber2th

Here's a small rack that I just got done building. It will hold 8 15qt. tubs.
I still have some finishing work to do like put some edge banding on the top of the two sides and put those white screw covers on the screw heads that are recessed, and maybe a back. I cut the melamine my self with a circular saw. I added a kick plate on the bottom for looks and I kept a gap on the top to allow for the cords to fit through. I left around 3/16" gap between tubs and shelf. I still have to add the Flexwatt Heat Tape and more tubs.Came out pretty nice I think!
What do you think?

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Looks good.

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Originally Posted by jjmitchell

I am a solid animal plastics customer.... I love my economy racks... I have a rack that holds 6 32 qt tubs with heat shipped for less than 300 dont remember exact amount, am fixing to sell that rack to my brother in law, and upgrade to a 10 shelf rack that is 440 shipped.... pricing is good, heat tape is recessed into rack, very solid nice units, and they have always been quite helpful.

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im interested in purchasing from animal plastics and wanted to know if you wouldn't mind posting some pics of your racks from animal plastics. a few questions i have are....

are all three sides (back, and both side panels) of the rack exposed; or are they covered, how is the heat tape/flexwatt applied, things of that nature. because on their site all they have are pics of stock merchandise, so i wanted to see what the product looks like while being put to use. thanks in advance

home made is key , if you're able to do it.

All 7 of my current racks are homemade as well as 5 BD/Uro cages. I don't think I'd like the freedom breeder style reptile racks (rodent racks are a different story) for the reasons stated above about holding heat and humidity, but the AP and RBI racks do look nice. I build my own racks for two reasons...1. cost, and 2. I enjoy building the caging/racking about as much as I do keeping the animals. The first couple of racks I built have problems with sagging or having to deal with lids, but all of the newer ones are great after I figured out what does/doesn't work. Still heavy though.