Rack materials

Hey guys I'm planning to build a 6qt rack for hatchlings. I've been wondering what is the cheapest LIGHTEST wood for that? I was thinking pine but I hear that it's bad for the snakes.thanks guy

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Originally Posted by Abaddon91

Hey guys I'm planning to build a 6qt rack for hatchlings. I've been wondering what is the cheapest LIGHTEST wood for that? I was thinking pine but I hear that it's bad for the snakes.thanks guy

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Pine is bad for racks because the top of the bin is open and it exposes the snakes to the wood (which from what I understand is toxic to reptiles). Hardwoods are recommended for herps but they are very expensive to work with. What a lot of people do is purchase a finished or coated poplar to work with. It doesn't hold the toxicity that other woods have and its not as expensive as hardwoods. A lot of people feel that as long as the wood is coated properly than it doesn't matter what kind of lumber it is but personally I don't like to play games with the health of my animals.

When it comes to playing around with making your own rack I find its easy and safer to have one made for you. Melamine is relatively easy to work with but depending on your location can be expensive. There are a lot of affordable racks out on the market right now that are worth looking into.

Cheers.

If you are gonna build a rack dont cheap out on regular wood. The moisture will desyroy it. Go with 3/4 inch melamine. Its 38 bucks a sheet at home depot. And dont build it too wide. I have like 12 melamine racks and each one is 6 ft tall and 2 feet wide and 20 inches deep. A 2 ft wide rack will fit either 1 28qt tub per shelf, or 2 15 qt tubs per shelf or 3 6qt tubs per shelf. The melamine will last along time and hold up to moisture without warping. I use luan for the back of the rack and i personally use backwall heat. I put 2 strips of 11 inch flexwatt 6 ft long and use foil tape to keep it in place until i screw the backer on. People will have their own oppinions of back heat versus belly heat but i hold any temps i want using back wall heat just fine so i dont see the reason for using belly heat on those racks but thats just me. I have a couple melemine racks that i built in 2004 and they still do the job.

i have a melimine rack the thing weighs a ton:taz::taz::taz::taz: i want something that is lightweight and not all that expensive

Melamine is heavy and is why you should know what your doing when building one. You are not gonna find a lighter rack of eaqual quality any cheaper then what it costs to buil one with melamine. Go price a 6 ft high 10 tub adult rack. I can build one with heat and tubs for just shy of 300 bucks. Good luck beating that price with a lighter equal quality rack. Oh and if ya do please email me cause ill buy 20 of them.and replace.my heavy racks and give you a finders fee lol

It is not really cheaper but 1/4 inch pvcx or 1/2 inch pvcx works well moisture is not a problem.

1/4 XPVC is not strong enough for racks unless you plan on doubling it up.

i build all of mine out of PVC. even melamine has bad chemcials such as formaldehyde.

i plan on building a modular unit rack where all the shelves easily bolt and unbolt from each other and i can also just build as i need to. oh and ill be using melamine.

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Originally Posted by snake lab

Go with 3/4 inch melamine. Its 38 bucks a sheet at home depot.

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I have checked every HD and Lowes here in San Antonio and they are not carrying the 4x8 sheets anymore because they dont sell

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Originally Posted by Lucas339

1/4 XPVC is not strong enough for racks unless you plan on doubling it up.

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1/4 should work.................. its a hatchling rack he is wanting to build

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Originally Posted by snake lab

Melamine is heavy and is why you should know what your doing when building one. You are not gonna find a lighter rack of equal quality any cheaper then what it costs to built one with melamine. Go price a 6 ft high 10 tub adult rack. I can build one with heat and tubs for just shy of 300 bucks. Good luck beating that price with a lighter equal quality rack. Oh and if ya do please email me cause ill buy 20 of them.and replace.my heavy racks and give you a finders fee lol

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Dont make a promise you cant keep:colbert::colbert::rofl::rofl:

http://i60.photobucket.com/albums/h1...-10-04_790.jpg

http://i60.photobucket.com/albums/h1...-10-18_671.jpg

Right at $50 or $60 with back heat;)
For me to build and sell, I could do $100 to $150 each and clean them up enough to match the furniture in your house:gj: (So how many you want??)
Its hard to tell in the pic but it does hold 24 6.5 qt tubs and a couple S&Ws too.
David saw this one in person:D

They are nice but looks like to much bare wood for moisture to ruin.

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Originally Posted by PitOnTheProwl

1/4 should work.................. its a hatchling rack he is wanting to build

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doesn't matter. i work with this stuff quite a bit. the 1/4" won't hold up to much weight unless you brace each shelf like boaphile does. that alone drives cost up when you can have better strenght with the 1/2" PVC and not have to brace it. the only thing i use 1/4" for is false walls in incubators which requires no weight to be put on it.

ABS or HDEP you can use 1/4" but it costs alot more and is a little tricky to work with. Cutting ABS is not that fun. Tends to chip and sling the chips across the shop.

i agree with the above. alot of bare wood in that one.

BTW animal plastics sells the same rack you made out of wood in plastic for $125 with heat.

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Originally Posted by Lucas339

doesn't matter. i work with this stuff quite a bit. the 1/4" won't hold up to much weight unless you brace each shelf like boaphile does. that alone drives cost up when you can have better strenght with the 1/2" PVC and not have to brace it. the only thing i use 1/4" for is false walls in incubators which requires no weight to be put on it.

ABS or HDEP you can use 1/4" but it costs alot more and is a little tricky to work with. Cutting ABS is not that fun. Tends to chip and sling the chips across the shop.

i agree with the above. alot of bare wood in that one.

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I have an old rack that is ten maybe 12 years old that is 1/4 PVCx it isn't sagging I don't know whom build it but it is completely fine. Almost all the custom enclosures around are 1/4 too with little or no bracing.

wait my mistake it is 8mm thick just over 1/4 about 5/16 or so.

what does it look like and are you sure its PVC and not HDEP? where did you get it? does it have braces inbetween the tubs?

5/16 is ok but 1/2 is better. there is no way i would make stacking cages in 5/16 or smaller, especially the four footers i make. smaller material can lead to slight sagging in cages and makes the doors hard to slide open if they use sliding doors. smaller cages.....yeah thats a little different.

boaphile uses 5/16" HDEP for their baby racks and it works well. but it is a lot stronger than XPVC. Dragons for you uses 1/4" ABS but triple layers the shelves.

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Originally Posted by snake lab

They are nice but looks like to much bare wood for moisture to ruin.

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Didnt want it finished, doesnt get wet either.;)
I keep lids on all my tubs:gj:

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Originally Posted by Lucas339

BTW animal plastics sells the same rack you made out of wood in plastic for $125 with heat.

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Yes, BUT will they build it the way you want it?
I just did 12 tall because its what my brain was stuck on at the time.
Next one will be 5 wide and 5 tall to fit on top of my 28q racks;)

I am fairly certain it is pvcx I have two one older than the other and 8mm one newer that is closer to 11mm (3/8) I don't know where it was made I bought it from the breeder I usually get my animals from when he shut down. He had it for ages and he also bought it used. There is no label but it is well designed and has tracks for cable that run along each shelf and up the sides too. It really looks like all the PVCx I have used in the past (I am a photographer and have had prints mounted on it rather than mdf)

http://images45.fotki.com/v1426/phot...D7_5778-vi.jpgHosted on Fotki

Like others have said the moisture is a big problem. I use melamine because it's sturdy and can withstand moisture. If you wanted to go a cheap route, you could do particle board and get the plastic sheets cut to fit the rat. I'm talking about the stuff that schools typically use for whiteboards. I'm not sure what else it is used for other than bathroom walls maybe.