41qt 6 tub rack in the making

Hey everyone I'm new to bp.net but I'm not entirely new to ball pythons. Right now I'm making a rack using my own design, which has probably been done by others because it seems like a good design.

Here are the dimensions of my set up

The sides consist of 2 boards of 35&1/2" x 48" melamine

The shelfs consist of 7 boards of 35&1/2" x 17" melamine

The back is 1 board of 18&1/2" x 48" cork board

I plan on running two 3" wide strips through the entire rack.
The tape will be spaced about 4" apart and will zig zag from the bottom up through all the shelves giving the snakes belly and side heat. I'm sure that's hard to visualize but I'll make sure to post pictures of the finished product.

I have a picture of what it will look like with 5 tubs and no heat tape. My flex watt is on the way and I need to buy more melamine to add the 6th shelf. Btw in this picture the shelves aren't screwed in, only the bottom, sides, and back are screwed in. The extra space will be used for storing snake supplies

Let me know what you think.:cool:

http://img.tapatalk.com/6b3ecce2-ded4-f1b4.jpg


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looking good so far.

Lookin good!

nice..

Ew I look awful. Oh well....
The rack looks niiiiiiiice! :gj: Way to go us.

Also what does everyone think about the zig zag heat tape design? Going up the side of one shelf, to the bottom of the next, then up the side to the next one, with the heat tape plugged into a rheostat and ONE thermostat with one probe? Anyone had issues using a foot of heat tape on multiple shelves with only one probe/thermostat? We're buying a temp gun but the thermostat has only one probe.

Snaking the flex watt is a pretty standard way to do it. This way it is continuous and you only use one thermostat.

I posted a video the other day on my YouTube page and on here showing me building a Animal Plastics rack, and that is how the flex watt is put in.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JerokOwhLdg

Thanks! Just what I was wondering. We're so stoked about this rack, we don't want to do a single thing to mess it up! :D
This is so exciting! Can't wait til it's done. Flexwatt supplies will be here by this next Friday. Woo!

If you have access to a router to recess the flexwatt just a touch and make the notches in the sides of the shelf to bring it up from the previous level, you will be golden.

Yeah.... I don't have access to a router. Would a jigsaw work? Do think it's even necessary to cut a recess for .01" thick flex watt? This is my first rack so I guess I'll just have to see how she goes. Any advice would definitely be appreciated though.

I found a solution to my routing/recess problem. I have a drumel tool that would be perfect for the job.

The collection of
Rachelle/shelliebear &
I Max/DeathMetalMax

1.0 Ringer ball <name="Nurgz"/>
1.0 Dark wild type/Dinker ball <name="CleoMantra"/>
0.1 Low-grade pastel <name="Madison"/>
1.0 butter motley corn <name="Schiztz"/>
0.1 Ultramel motley corn <name="Cheesecake"/>

!Update! The rack constrction is done, now I just need the cord clips and insultors so I can plug it in. I hate waiting, so next time I am definitely going to solder the cord my self.

http://img.tapatalk.com/6b3ebe72-cef6-ecd6.jpg
Btw above is the tool I ended up using to make a recess for the flexwatt to snake through the shelves. It's a $2 dollar grindstone drill bit. If you're like me and you don't have a lot of money this is a handy tool. A router would of been much better and more time efficient but I didn't have access to one and the cheapest one I could find was still over $100.

http://img.tapatalk.com/6b3ebe72-d116-fddb.jpg
Above here is a pic of the space I made for the flex watt with the grindstone bit. I just marked the width of the flex watt and basically grinded/sanded the wood down on the side of the shelves so the flexwatt could slide through.
Here's a picture of one of the shelves fitted and screwed in.
http://img.tapatalk.com/6b3ebe72-d249-e7a7.jpg

So I did all the routing with the grindstone drill bit, screwed each shelfsin with 7 2" exterior screws, 3 for each side and 1 in the back, taped the flexwatt down with foil tape, and repeated the process until completion.

There was one thing I added on the fly and that was the insulation on the bottom. For that I used 2 17" long 2x4s, one piece of 35&1/2" long by 17"wide cheep laminated scrap wood and pink panther insulation.
I just screwed the laminate scrap board onto the two 2x4s so all the widths matched up to 17" , taped a bunch of insulation
to the bottom of the laminate scrap board, stuffed the scrap board with the insulation and 2x4s to the bottom of the rack and screwed it in through the bottom sides of the rack into the 2x4s on the insulated laminate board.

And that's about it I'll make sure to add more pictures.

If anyone has questions feel free to ask.


The collection of
Rachelle/shelliebear &
I Max/DeathMetalMax

1.0 Ringer bp <name="Nurgz"/>
1.0 Dark wild type/Dinker bp <name="CleoMantra"/>
0.1 Low-grade pastel bp<name="Madison"/>
1.0 Butter motley corn <name="Schiztz"/>
0.1 Ultramel motley corn <name="Cheesecake"/>

It all turned out great so far! We got our temp gun in the mail yesterday and checked the temp of the bottom tub in the rack versus the top. The bottom is the same temp as the top, so the insulation must be doing its job! :salute:
Good idea Max! Max came up with every idea for this rack--I didn't think of a thing. I'm not much when it comes to creating ideas and plans, but he sure is. It came out beautiful and our snakes will love it and be happy/healthy! Woo hoo! :snake:

I'm glad I saw this thread before I built mine. I was going to do multiple flexwatt/therm combos. I did all my pieces on a cnc router so a cutout for the flex watt on the side of the shelves was easy. Is yours finished and up and going?

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Kaduhn1

I'm glad I saw this thread before I built mine. I was going to do multiple flexwatt/therm combos. I did all my pieces on a cnc router so a cutout for the flex watt on the side of the shelves was easy. Is yours finished and up and going?

---

Today I get my cords with the copper wire clips and rubber insulators from big apple pet supply. Next time I build a rack I won't be so lazy and I'll solder some cords to the flexwatt myself. So yeah by the end of today it will be up and running.

The collection of
Rachelle/shelliebear &
I Max/DeathMetalMax

1.0 Ringer bp <name="Nurgz"/>
1.0 Dark wild type/Dinker bp <name="CleoMantra"/>
0.1 Low-grade pastel bp<name="Madison"/>
1.0 Butter motley corn <name="Schiztz"/>
0.1 Ultramel motley corn <name="Cheesecake"/>

I finished setting up the rack yesterday and it is perfect. There is only a 1 degree difference from the top to bottom and so far my bp's body temps have all been between 83 and 86 degrees. The cold end averages 81 - 82 degrees and the warm end has been at 93 ever since last night when the thermostat started toggling the power on the flex watt.