The Frugal Rack system a good investment?

So I want to build a good 41 qt. rack but I want to know is it better to have a melamine rack or a rack like the ones made out of plastic shelving.

What is a cheap and easy way to build a snake rack?

Melamine will be really heavy and if they are exposed to humidity over the years it will eventually deteriorate, as with pvc racks they are light weight, resistant to moisture and will last a lifetime. But you can always build a melamine 41qt like mine and use 2x4's as legs and just use the melamine as shelves, that keeps it a little lighter and cheaper. I'll post pictures of mine in a bit.

I would love to use melamine but the problem is that the humidity in time will ruin the rack and it is extremely heavy. The rack that I'm talking about is the racks that jason kbolkya uses for his hatchlings, but a lot bigger. I'm talking about the 5 level plastic shelvings you get at home depot. I like them because they are light, but they arent the simplest racks. Plus in order to make the plastic shelving worth to buy it is to actually have a 10 level rack.

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Originally Posted by Maddumpling

I would love to use melamine but the problem is that the humidity in time will ruin the rack and it is extremely heavy. The rack that I'm talking about is the racks that jason kbolkya uses for his hatchlings, but a lot bigger. I'm talking about the 5 level plastic shelvings you get at home depot. I like them because they are light, but they arent the simplest racks. Plus in order to make the plastic shelving worth to buy it is to actually have a 10 level rack.

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Ok I see what your talking about, I personally would use them. At $50 a rack you can have a 9 or 10 level rack for $100, but you have to cut the poles to size and get that thin shower board that you glue underneath each level unless your using lids still. I personally would do that over melamine any day.

Yea but like should I just build a 10 level rack for the heck of it even though I dont have that many snakes. Like I plan to get breeder females and males dont get me wrong, but I dont plan to get 10 adult females all at once.

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Originally Posted by Maddumpling

Yea but like should I just build a 10 level rack for the heck of it even though I dont have that many snakes. Like I plan to get breeder females and males dont get me wrong, but I dont plan to get 10 adult females all at once.

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Depending if your using the racks with tub lids then you can put different size tubs on the shelves.

But then the heat tape is also a problem if i put different tubs.

We did the frugal herper. It is good for something NOW and it isn't heavy at all. It comes with enough poles that if you mess up it's no big deal. It does fit 41qt sideways, just get a pretty rigid container and you won't have to worry about the big girls pushing out.

It doesn't look slim and sleek and modern, but that's about the only complaint I have with it, and even with the 41 qt there is a little extra space on each side of the rack which makes it feel really bulky.

Otherwise it's fine.

We also have one shelf for 3 15qts with same size heat tape running along the back and accommodating 3 tubs.

cheapest way is to just make your own, i make them for breeders in my area and i can make 4 - 10 high 41qt tub racks out of 2x4's and 1/4" osb for less than 100 bucks. But it all depends how comfortable you are with building and what type of tools you have at your disposal. Good luck!

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Originally Posted by aldebono

We did the frugal herper. It is good for something NOW and it isn't heavy at all. It comes with enough poles that if you mess up it's no big deal. It does fit 41qt sideways, just get a pretty rigid container and you won't have to worry about the big girls pushing out.

It doesn't look slim and sleek and modern, but that's about the only complaint I have with it, and even with the 41 qt there is a little extra space on each side of the rack which makes it feel really bulky.

Otherwise it's fine.

We also have one shelf for 3 15qts with same size heat tape running along the back and accommodating 3 tubs.

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How do you have 3 15 qts with the same size heat tape running along the back? I'm curious because like you said the 41 qt would go from the side and the heat tape for that would be smaller. Plus you can't have same size heat tape for 28 qt tubs for my situation.

The 41qt heat tape is sitting on the rack back to front instead of side to side, same size heat tape for the 15qts but running side to side instead of front to back. It is a little short for the end tub.


I was trying to find bins that are the same height that would fit side by side to utilize the most room in the rack but not a lot of luck. It's just always going to be bulky.