Racks and Cats

I built my rack today, an 4 shelf/8 32q tub based on the plastic Home Depot rack design, and once I get the heat tape in (Most likely Thursday), I'll be moving my current two and three more that I'm getting tomorrow into it.

Then something occurred to me. I've got three cats running around here. Do I have to worry about them pulling the tubs off of the shelf? Should I be devising some kind of locking system? I can't imagine that would be too hard. A simple plastic toggle of some kind should do it.

Anyone have any experience with this?

Before I had to get rid of my kitty, she didn't seem to bother my racks. However, a little stopper may not be just a bad idea. just drill holes in the center and put little golf tees in there. That should stop the tub if the cat tries to pull the tub out. I've noticed that the cats are more interested in batting the tubs than pulling them out.

It couldn't hurt. My cats don't bother my tubs though.

Before they got their own room (the snakes that is) our boy cat bothered them constantly. We had to put boards in front of the lower tubs when we were not home. He would bat at them, or scratch at them. We had stoppers in place so it wasn't an issue of him dragging them out. I think he would have if he could though.

Just so I understand. Do you currently have 2 ball pythons and are getting 3 more to go in the same rack?

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Originally Posted by TheSnakeGuy

Just so I understand. Do you currently have 2 ball pythons and are getting 3 more to go in the same rack?

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Correct-ish. The two I've got are in tanks, and the three I'm getting are coming from the same breeder. I'm not going to be putting my two current animals in the rack until I observe the new three for a week or so.

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The new additions regardless of where they came from should be quarantined away from your current snakes for MINIMIM 2-3 months. Some will say 6 months.

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Originally Posted by TheSnakeGuy

The new additions regardless of where they came from should be quarantined away from your current snakes for MINIMIM 2-3 months. Some will say 6 months.

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Define 'away', please.

Your new snakes should probably go in the rack and the rack be kept on the other side of your reptile room or in a closet. Or the new ones kept in separate cages, again well away from the rack with your current two. Also you should not handle your old snakes after handling new ones without first sanitizing your hands. These are basic practices to keep all of your animals safe. There is a recent thread about someone bringing home one or two new snakes and putting them into an existing rack with others. Several days later they had 5 dead snakes. A harsh lesson about quarantining you don't want to learn first hand

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Originally Posted by TheSnakeGuy

Your new snakes should probably go in the rack and the rack be kept on the other side of your reptile room or in a closet. Or the new ones kept in separate cages, again well away from the rack with your current two. Also you should not handle your old snakes after handling new ones without first sanitizing your hands. These are basic practices to keep all of your animals safe. There is a recent thread about someone bringing home one or two new snakes and putting them into an existing rack with others. Several days later they had 5 dead snakes. A harsh lesson about quarantining you don't want to learn first hand

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I thought the five dead snakes turned out to be from the substrate...

Thanks for the tip, though. I've got two glass cages that'll be on the opposite side of the room from my rack. The three will go in the rack and my current two will stay in the cages for the time being. I've got a bottle of GermX right next to my cages, always sanitize before and after I handle them. I read somewhere that reptiles can carry salmonella on their skin, don't want to get sick or get them sick from something I've got on my hands.

Sounds like a good plan. Just keep it stable like that for 3 months. I've got 2 snakes ready to go into my rack that I'm building this weekend. And one that has to wait another 2 months. After that it should be smooth sailing and I'll have my rack and 2 complete setups for quarantining new additions.

Any suggestions for reasonable quarantine setups without building a whole new rack? I wasn't planning on keeping these glass tank setups as they're such a PITA to maintain.

I don't know what to tell you other than to have class cages or pvc style across from your rack. I've got a 10 gal/20 gal long/ and a Large/Wide Exo Terra so I can house just about anything under 8 feet.

Glass tanks make very good quarantine as they are so easy to completely clean and disinfect. Racks would be the most difficult as they are the hardest to fully clean and disinfect. Ideally the quarantine space would be separate from each other and with some physical distance and each having its own tools and materials. I would also isolate each tank with a tray of diatomaceous earth under it. This prevents mites (if any) from entering and leaving isolating each from parasitic vectors. Racks basically are all or nothing if one has mites they all do. Mites are a good guess for many diseases transmission.