NGM Exotics: Fusion Racks (?)

I was going through one of my old threads asking for Canadian ball python breeders. NGM Exotics is one of the breeders a fellow user led me to.

I surfed his site for while, and checked out his racks. They seem like good quality racks, but there a bit on the pricey side (for a 15 year old at least!)

Each rack he has comes equipped with a grounded herpstat (Upgradable to Herpstat ND, 2, and Pro for extra), Ultratherm heating (Which I'm supposing is heat tape, they look very similar), and a 12 outlet power strip. And the tubs.

The racks I'm looking at can house 10, and 20 animals. The 10 animal rack is $1300, and the 20 animal rack is $1750. Although the 20 animal rack would be completely useless to me for the time being, are these fair prices for racks with everything included?

I know I'm better off just building my own, but I would rather buy a good rack, and THEN build one as a project and use that as my collection grows.

He also sells herpstats, ultratherm, and temp guns amongst other things
His site link; http://www.ngmexotics.com/index.php?decide=home

22 views and nothing?

Anybody? Please? :P

I haven't looked into buying a rack, so I can't tell you if the priced are fair. However, I have been buying the ultra therm heaters from him, they are not flex watt, although they do look exactly the same. The ultra therms are more energy efficient, less wattage and they also do not get as hot as flex watt. I guess because the ultra therms are more money than flex watt, that could make the prices go up. Hopefully I helped some, sorry I couldn't of been more help.

How drastic is the difference in heat between the flexwatt and the ultratherm?

Thanks for the information though :)

The price difference is a lot, flex watt is very cheap, the actual cost is by foot usually. However, the ultra therms cost $15- $50 depending what sizes you get, like buying the under the tank heat mats from Petco or Petsmart, so I'm assuming that it will make the price of the rack much higher.

I actually meant the different in heat, because you said the one didn't get as hot as the other.

Oh, sorry, flex watt I hear gets very hot, about 150 degrees or more. The ultra therms that I have purchased, all of different sizes only reach 100 degrees at a maximum when not on a thermostat.

Ohhhh. So on a controlled thermostat if I set both on 91 or so there wouldn't be a difference like that?


If anybody else reading this has an input on the racks please post a reply :)

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Originally Posted by bsash

Oh, sorry, flex watt I hear gets very hot, about 150 degrees or more. The ultra therms that I have purchased, all of different sizes only reach 100 degrees at a maximum when not on a thermostat.

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I've never had a piece of flexwatt get up to 150 degrees. I run some plugged right into the wall for heating up f/t rats and it only gets to about 110 or so.

As far as the prices on the Fusion racks, it IS a good price. You've gotta remember, those racks are made from steel -- not plastic or melamine. That means it will pretty much last forever.

I have a hard time thinking someone can pay over a grand for a 10 animal rack when i could easily build one for under 300, prob closer to 250. its your money, you decide if their good value for you or not.

ultratherms are flexwatt that has a resistor and another layer of plastic.

nothing really special about them if you ask me. if you set each for 91, they will both be 91, no difference. people like to argue "what if the thermostat fails?" not that it hasn't happened, but it takes quite the series of events to get a thermostat to fail, letting current through and not pop a breaker.

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Originally Posted by m00kfu

I've never had a piece of flexwatt get up to 150 degrees. I run some plugged right into the wall for heating up f/t rats and it only gets to about 110 or so.

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I plugged mine in when i first got my rack just to see how hot it got, 147 it topped out at on the hottest spot on the tub.

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Originally Posted by m00kfu

I've never had a piece of flexwatt get up to 150 degrees. I run some plugged right into the wall for heating up f/t rats and it only gets to about 110 or so.

As far as the prices on the Fusion racks, it IS a good price. You've gotta remember, those racks are made from steel -- not plastic or melamine. That means it will pretty much last forever.

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I thought so. I just never brought the whole steele over plastic or melamine into play :)

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Originally Posted by OhhWatALoser

I have a hard time thinking someone can pay over a grand for a 10 animal rack when i could easily build one for under 300, prob closer to 250. its your money, you decide if their good value for you or not.

ultratherms are flexwatt that has a resistor and another layer of plastic.

nothing really special about them if you ask me. if you set each for 91, they will both be 91, no difference. people like to argue "what if the thermostat fails?" not that it hasn't happened, but it takes quite the series of events to get a thermostat to fail, letting current through and not pop a breaker.



I plugged mine in when i first got my rack just to see how hot it got, 147 it topped out at on the hottest spot on the tub.

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I understand where your coming from. I have alot of ideas and designs for racks and I'm actually going to start working on an old dresser as a fun little project soon. I'm not trying to get rude or defensive here but $1300 for something that will last a lot longer then a plastic or melamine rack seems like a good investment to me, cause over the years the cost of materials will add up right? Dont get me wrong, I love the idea of people making their own racks. I actually love helping my cousin build his.


About the ultratherm though; Do you know how the resistor works? Like you said if you set both at 91 both will be 91, so its not affecting heat. Is it using less power or something?:confused:

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Originally Posted by LP.

I understand where your coming from. I have alot of ideas and designs for racks and I'm actually going to start working on an old dresser as a fun little project soon. I'm not trying to get rude or defensive here but $1300 for something that will last a lot longer then a plastic or melamine rack seems like a good investment to me, cause over the years the cost of materials will add up right? Dont get me wrong, I love the idea of people making their own racks. I actually love helping my cousin build his.


About the ultratherm though; Do you know how the resistor works? Like you said if you set both at 91 both will be 91, so its not affecting heat. Is it using less power or something?:confused:

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The ultratherm mats are UL listed - I've used them and the T-Rex Cobra (same thing) mats for years.

As for the Fusion racks - I got to see the 450 in person a few weeks ago and was impressed. It's a nice system, with a smooth feel and those 47x28 tubs are very clean.

As for using steel racks in general - I've used Boaphile, AP and Freedom Breeder. Next time I buy a rack, it will be a FB (close to me - no shipping charges). I've found that the extra dough is well worth it for a quality piece of equipment.

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Originally Posted by OhhWatALoser

I plugged mine in when i first got my rack just to see how hot it got, 147 it topped out at on the hottest spot on the tub.

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Not to get off topic here, but what size/wattage flexwatt do you have? That'd cut down on heating f/t significantly if it got that warm, assuming the rats didn't explode on me. :8: