Lets see your homemade racks!

Well, as expected, I want to expand on my current collection of my normal bp and dumerils boa. :rolleyes: but I want to focus mainly on ball pythons because I hope to breed in a couple of years. So being the frugal college student I am, I want to build my own rack instead of buy one. I would like to make mine a closed-air style rack simply because they hold heat better. I want a rack that I could use to hold babies, juveniles, and adults...if that's even possible?

So I'm curious, what do all of yours look like? Lets see 'em!!

P.s: nooo I'm not trying to put my dumerils in this rack, it would be strictly for ball pythons :)

Here's mines :)
http://img.tapatalk.com/d/13/03/06/aju9y2et.jpg
Although it's slightly different now, but basically the same :)

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http://img.tapatalk.com/d/13/03/06/5ysupusa.jpg ignore the mess on top of it lol but that's my female 41 q rack belly heat 2 3 in flexwatt side by side works perfect ha

http://i1271.photobucket.com/albums/...psd958a84a.jpg

This is my baby rack. It will have 3" THG heat tape for belly heat. And holds 16 6qt tubs. I might start on my 28qt and my 16qt racks this week.

What do y'all recommend as material to build the rack? I was thinking melemine...

Here is mine it is made out of melamine.
[IMG]http://i1279.photobucket.com/albums/...ps48027d6e.jpg[/IMG]

Here's ours http://img.tapatalk.com/d/13/03/10/dety4uva.jpg
http://img.tapatalk.com/d/13/03/10/9a6yburu.jpg

If you don't want heavy racks, DONT GET MELAMINE. They are heavy. Trust me on that. Unless you have casters, melamine racks aren't meant for moving around a lot. PVC racks, frugal herp racks from plastic shelving are good racks.

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Originally Posted by Jons2012pied

Here is mine it is made out of melamine.
[IMG]http://i1279.photobucket.com/albums/...ps48027d6e.jpg[/IMG]

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That looks great!! Where did you get your tubs?

these all look so great! I was thinking about breeding in a few years and would be interested in making a rack. but i have a few questions, is there heat tape under each plastic bin? or what type of heater is there, and what about lights? do you not need lights when they are in the rack system?

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Originally Posted by ericarditti

these all look so great! I was thinking about breeding in a few years and would be interested in making a rack. but i have a few questions, is there heat tape under each plastic bin? or what type of heater is there, and what about lights? do you not need lights when they are in the rack system?

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Ball pythons do not require any light. In the wild, they spend most of their time in the dark, hiding in holes or termite mounds. Just a tub, a hide or two, a water bowl, and some heat and they're happy!

and what about the heat tape? that works for the tub? wont melt it or the rack? newbie here so im just trying to figure everything out

There are 2 different brands of heat tape. THG and flexwatt. They must be connected to a thermostat to control how hot the heat tape is getting. At the temperatures needed for a BP, the heat tape will not melt the tub or the rack. you can get heat tape at many reptile supplies dealers online, but I've found that Reptile Basics has the best deals.

So I have a question about making racks too, when placing the tape, what can you do so the tub sliding over the tape doesn't wear out the tape?

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Originally Posted by Lesserlove

So I have a question about making racks too, when placing the tape, what can you do so the tub sliding over the tape doesn't wear out the tape?

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You can either recess the heat tape a little and/or use spacers when you put the rack together. I use 2 CDs at each corner of my tubs for a snug fit but not so there is a lot of pressure on the heat tape.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v5...9206760438.jpg

Here's my homemade rack:
http://i25.photobucket.com/albums/c8...psf784b630.jpg

We used melamine, and that sucker is HEAVY. It isn't moving anywhere now that it is placed. We did put furniture movers under it so we can slide it across the carpet, but that was only so we could get it in that corner.

We drilled a channel in to the shelves to place the thermostat probe. We are using heat tape, and as you can see in the pictures we used window shims over the heat tape to keep the tubs from sliding directly on top of it.

http://img.tapatalk.com/d/13/03/11/e7y7unev.jpg
Here's mine! Made from melamine with black duct tape for edging. 4/16qt and 5/28qt tubs pretty simple build. Melamine is heavier but I don't really plan on moving it.

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Originally Posted by sorraia

Here's my homemade rack:
http://i25.photobucket.com/albums/c8...psf784b630.jpg

We used melamine, and that sucker is HEAVY. It isn't moving anywhere now that it is placed. We did put furniture movers under it so we can slide it across the carpet, but that was only so we could get it in that corner.

We drilled a channel in to the shelves to place the thermostat probe. We are using heat tape, and as you can see in the pictures we used window shims over the heat tape to keep the tubs from sliding directly on top of it.

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What kind of t-stats are you using?

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Originally Posted by Lesserlove

What kind of t-stats are you using?

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Lol I think the box of the thermostat is sitting on top with the name showing ;)

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Really nice rack loser :gj:

Here is my setup. HomeDepot plastic shelving cut down :nerd:
http://i580.photobucket.com/albums/s...a/DSCN0592.jpg

http://i580.photobucket.com/albums/s...a/DSCN0589.jpg

http://i580.photobucket.com/albums/s...a/DSCN0590.jpg

Alrighty guys, I'm in a pickle with what I wanna do. I want to build a rack and have it in my room. Problem is I can't use anymore heat tape because If I do, my power bill will go through the roof. I have 2' of 11" flexwatt.
So, should I build a closed air rack, and use the tape as back heat? This would keep the ambient temp in the front of the rack around 82, and the rear around 89.

Or, open air rack and use a space heater to keep the ambient at a constant 83-84? I don't want to use the space heater AND heat tape, especially since its starting to warm up now outside.

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Originally Posted by Trackstrong83

That looks great!! Where did you get your tubs?

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I got the tubs from Walmart. I think it was like $8 a tub. The board were 2'x8' which I cut into 4' high. I also took another one and cut them to 16" so I got like 5 boards out of one 2'x8'. The heat tape and thermostat was from the bean farm. Total amount was about $250 including the heat tape and thermostat (which was $100) it holds 7 bins. My next one is going to be for adults.

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Originally Posted by Trackstrong83

Alrighty guys, I'm in a pickle with what I wanna do. I want to build a rack and have it in my room. Problem is I can't use anymore heat tape because If I do, my power bill will go through the roof. I have 2' of 11" flexwatt.
So, should I build a closed air rack, and use the tape as back heat? This would keep the ambient temp in the front of the rack around 82, and the rear around 89.

Or, open air rack and use a space heater to keep the ambient at a constant 83-84? I don't want to use the space heater AND heat tape, especially since its starting to warm up now outside.

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A closed rack will hold heat in better. I will say that right now I have 2 12 x 12 uth, 2' of 11" THG heat tape and about 5' of 4" heat tape as well as a little oil heater running and don't see much change in my bill month to month.

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Originally Posted by Lesserlove

What kind of t-stats are you using?

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Originally Posted by Rob

Lol I think the box of the thermostat is sitting on top with the name showing ;)

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What Rob said. ;)

It's the VE-300X2 from Reptile Basics. So far it's working good and I'm very pleased! :)

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Originally Posted by sorraia

What Rob said. ;)

It's the VE-300X2 from Reptile Basics. So far it's working good and I'm very pleased! :)

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I'm trying to build my own rack and I like yours minus the melamine lol But I looked up that t stat on LLL (Bare with me I'm still learning about all the thermastats and how they hook up to the flexiiwatt) And it looks like you only have one and each tub seems to have its own digital reading? Could you explain to me how that works?

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Originally Posted by OhhWatALoser

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v5...9206760438.jpg

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I really like this setup! What thermostat you using?

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Originally Posted by SansCera

Really nice rack loser :gj:

Here is my setup. HomeDepot plastic shelving cut down :nerd:




http://i580.photobucket.com/albums/s...a/DSCN0590.jpg

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what is the silver stuff your using for insulation?

http://shrani.si/t/2r/aA/2FKY74f2/dsc0010.jpg
http://shrani.si/t/46/Kv/ptVxtG2/dsc0009.jpg
http://shrani.si/t/2q/Dp/2LL6d32b/dsc0014.jpg

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Originally Posted by threezero

what is the silver stuff your using for insulation?

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It's an insulated foam board with an aluminum skin. Works great and super easy to work with. I finished out the whole room that way, stays very constant and easy to clean.

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Originally Posted by Trouser

I really like this setup! What thermostat you using?

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Helix DBS-1000

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Originally Posted by Lesserlove

I'm trying to build my own rack and I like yours minus the melamine lol But I looked up that t stat on LLL (Bare with me I'm still learning about all the thermastats and how they hook up to the flexiiwatt) And it looks like you only have one and each tub seems to have its own digital reading? Could you explain to me how that works?

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Though I've been answering your PM, for the benefit of anyone else reading... :)

Each digital reading is an Accurite thermometer/hygrometer. I used the instructions on this forum (I think the DYI section) to rewire each one to have three probes: 2 for temperature and 1 for humidity. That allows me to put the probes inside the tub (hot side temp, cool side temp, and humidity), but keep the unit outside for quick and easy reading. I pretty much stop in to check my snakes several times a day to make sure everything is set up properly (maybe just a tad obsessive! lol but with the weather warming up I have to adjust the space heater for day time and then again for night time), and this makes it easier on me since I don't have to disturb the snakes or try to get the right angle to see the unit inside the tub. It also takes up less space inside the tub. I make sure each tub has its own thermometer/hygrometer too, just so I can measure individual differences, no matter how small, and make whatever adjustments are necessary to keep everyone comfortable, happy, and healthy.

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Originally Posted by OhhWatALoser

Helix DBS-1000

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Cool! So that's it on the side huh? If so how come you have four?

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Originally Posted by Trouser

Cool! So that's it on the side huh? If so how come you have four?

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each rack has to have it's own thermostat, different size tubs and different lengths of heat tape. I got 41 qts, 28 qts, and 2x 6 qts racks in that stack.

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Originally Posted by OhhWatALoser

each rack has to have it's own thermostat, different size tubs and different lengths of heat tape. I got 41 qts, 28 qts, and 2x 6 qts racks in that stack.

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That's what I figured didn't notice the double stack until after I posted. Really nice setup though! Once I get into a house next month I may try something similar. :)