My First Rack - Recommendations?

Hey everyone,

Right now, I have my four 2013 females weighing 350g, 600g, 650g, and 1500g (hatch dates within about 5 months of each other). They are doing well in their two divided T8s, but I'm looking to expand and take the next step in this hobby and start thinking about breeding next season. I know eventually the ideal route to go would be to have my breeder females in larger V70 tubs and my males in V28 tubs. However, I don't currently have enough snakes to justify buying both size racks for the long-term. Financially, I could purchase both size racks, but it feels like that'd be a waste of space with the size of my collection right now. I'm realistically only looking to add a single 7 to 11 tub rack.

If you were in my shoes, which one size rack would you be leaning towards? The larger V70 size would be future-proofing for my females. However, the smaller V28 size would be more suited to their sizes right now and the size of the new additions I'll be adding in the coming year. If I went with the V70, would they be too large for my smaller future additions? If I went with the V28, would they be too small too soon for my current girls growth in the upcoming year (and too small for breeding possibly)?

Just looking for some additional input on the thoughts running through my head - I can only be my own devil's advocate for so long. Any comments, questions, concerns, and smart remarks are appreciated!

Best regards,
Eric

Since you want something adaptable, why not just build your own rack as you need it, and purchase the tubs separately as needed. I am working on doing this myself using fiberboard.

Building your own rack is a very viable option as always.

If you don't want to build your own rack ARS racks are about as versatile as racks can get.

http://www.arscaging.com/reptilesys.html

They sell their racks as complete systems, or as individual levels. Most of their racks have the same footprint (or you can use an adaptor bracket) so you can mix and match based on what you need. From super small hatchling tubs all the way up to large boa tubs in the same rack.

If you want to use a single tub size I would go with the larger or the options.

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Originally Posted by Physician&Snakes

Since you want something adaptable, why not just build your own rack as you need it, and purchase the tubs separately as needed. I am working on doing this myself using fiberboard.

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Be careful with fiberboard, it doesn't hold up well to humidity, and the chemicals used to bind it together can release toxic gases when heated.

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Originally Posted by The Serpent Merchant

Be careful with fiberboard, it doesn't hold up well to humidity, and the chemicals used to bind it together can release toxic gases when heated.

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Yes that is the main thing I am trying to work with, if all else fails I am going back to birch.

I would suggest going with the larger rack. You will then have the room for them to grow into. And if you are worried about putting smaller snakes in them, you can always partition off the tub or clutter it up with things: hides, crumpled up paper which will make the snake think the enclosure is smaller than it really is.

Sent from my SCH-I545 using Tapatalk

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Eric Alan

If you were in my shoes, which one size rack would you be leaning towards? The larger V70 size would be future-proofing for my females. However, the smaller V28 size would be more suited to their sizes right now and the size of the new additions I'll be adding in the coming year. If I went with the V70, would they be too large for my smaller future additions?

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I would always get the bigger one. You can either divide or clutter up the larger enclosures to make them smaller and suitable for small snakes, but there's nothing you can do to a 28qt tub to make it suitable for a 2500g female.

I have nothing but 37qt V70's. All snakes go in them when I get them, no matter how small. I've had hatchlings as small as 80g in them without issue. You may need to fill it up with stuff (multiple hides, crumpled up paper towels or newspapers, fake plants, etc) to make the smaller snakes more secure, but there is no reason it won't work. As the snake gets larger, you simply pull things out of the enclosure.

If you want something prebuilt and high quality, then I'd go for the ARS rack, you could literally have adults, juveniles, and hatchlings in the same rack if you wanted. For myself I'm still in the diy to save money stage of the hobby, but I hope to be able to afford one of the commercial racks in the future. Besides,ifnyou have extra spots, that means you can get more snakes if you want.I

I agree with building your own rack. Or, buy the medium sized rack and then a larger one when the time comes. If you are going to be breeding you need all three sized racks.

Here's a link to the DIY thread I made for the big white racks http://ball-pythons.net/forums/showt...elving-unit%29
http://i157.photobucket.com/albums/t...ps60d02823.jpg

I love the big white ones. They are so nice and easy to use/build. Once you look through the thread and understand how to make the rack, you can make most shelving units into racks. The pain is finding a rack that fits the tubs and that you can screw the white board into. Some are just way too flimsy or don't have a lip to screw the white board into. I'm not a fan of my smaller grey rack on the far right. I will replace it eventually.

This is my first rack that I just built last week. It holds 67qt tubs were are 40" x 20" x 7". It has 6 levels and only took 2 big sheets of melamine and peg board for the back. It's not the prettiest but this is the first thing i have ever really built. I keep all of my snakes in this size tub....from small to large and have never had a problem

http://i1161.photobucket.com/albums/...ps3a70c316.jpg
http://i1161.photobucket.com/albums/...ps94ac9674.jpg

ARS is fantastic, if you have a BIG budget for caging. I have been very happy with my AP racks, and there is a model for the Sterilite tubs that lets you use either one 32 qt tub per shelf (good size for the adult males) or 2 15 qt tubs per shelf (good for babies) which might give you a little more flexibility. But the other posters are also correct, the 70 tubs can always be partitioned down to suit your needs, but you can't make a small space bigger (although this would be a massive waste of space for hatchlings).