New DIY hatchling rack

Thought I'd share my new hatchling racks I made. They're made from laminate shelving material and hard board. Each one holds 20 tubs (though I made a measurement error and the bottom slots of every rack is 1/8 too short!!) So mine actually hold 18 tubs each. Tubs are ziploc storage containers.

I chose the black laminate shelving as I wanted it to match the black PVC racks I already had in the room, but I didn't want to mess with sealing and painting wood. However, the material chips VERY easily and the slightest ding exposes the underneath part. I'll probably try to go over everything with a sharpie as a ghetto fix.

I like this size for hatchling bps much much more than the standard 12 qt tubs that a lot of prefabricated racks use. I find those are often too large for hatchling bps and I had lots of trouble with nonfeeders. With the storage containers, they're large enough for the bp to move around and live there for a couple of months, but small enough that they feel more secure.

Total cost for all 3 was ~$260 including all building materials, tubs, heat, hides, and water bowls. Pretty cost effective considering that's just about $4/tub.

Anyways, I didn't do a write up, but its a simple design. Feel free to ask any questions if you have any.

All 3 racks. For additional strength, I used a router to dado all of the shelving joints. This way it exposed the laminate and I could use glue in addition the screws to hold it all together.:
http://i143.photobucket.com/albums/r...ps86062293.jpg


Close up of tub; I did shelving by cutting slots for the hardboard. This way no hardware is required to hold shelves in place, making it simpler.
http://i143.photobucket.com/albums/r...pse601c53e.jpg


Here you can seed tub with hide and water bowl. The hide takes up the back half of the tub. But there's plenty of room for the snake to crawl over the hide. About half use the hide, and half just wedge themselves between the tub and the hide, makes them feel nice and secure!
http://i143.photobucket.com/albums/r...ps6e82a424.jpg


Here's a 10 day old hatchling for size comparison to entire tub.
http://i143.photobucket.com/albums/r...ps9b7dd91b.jpg

Wow! That is literally a wall of snakes.

That is got to be amazing for someone who's expecting a butt load of babies, and only $260? Damn man, nice work!

Very nice rack! Where did you get all of the materials? It looks like they have back heat?

Thanks for compliments. All materials were bought from Home Depot except the hides and heat tape. Hides bought at dollar store (3 for $1) and heat tape bought from reptile basics.

Just to add, yes it's back heat. A il single strip if 11" flex watt runs down the back and is split between each side.

Your rack looks great. I may have to build one myself with your design.

http://m.homedepot.com/p/Rubbermaid-...0BLA/100120485

Is that the right stuff?

Yup. That's the stuff! Was cheaper to get 72" pieces and cut them down, but material is same. They also make it in white

I would love to get the materials and plans on how to make this setup. However I need larger tubs and only one column of 10. PM me if you feel up to it. That looks great man.

Very nice work! Pretty baby, too! Thanks for sharing this!

Very very nice dude, great job.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Spike89

I would love to get the materials and plans on how to make this setup. However I need larger tubs and only one column of 10. PM me if you feel up to it. That looks great man.

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Is be happy to help. The problem with larger tubs is that the end up being deeper than the shelving. So you'd have to probably move to sheets of wood cut down. Depending on how small of tubs you used, might still be able to use hardboard for the shelves.

You'd just have to adjust all of the measurements for your specific tub. But again, feel free to ask if you have any questions!