Homemade tub setup

I've been lurking for about a week and decided it was a good time for my first post. I got my first ball python less than a month ago and it seems like a hobby that's going to get out of control fast. Over the weekend I took the family to Repticon which resulted in another addition to the family. My first one is housed in a glass aquarium but knowing I could potentially be adding several more to my collection I decided to go with a tub setup. Now my first ball is doing awesome and is an amazing eater so I'm kind of nervous about switching her around but hopefully it's a smooth transition.

I came across a 4 tier shelf at walmart for 20 bucks which will allow me to have three 7qt, two 15qt or one 32 locking lid sterilite per level. It's not the best use of space, but for the price especially considering it looks decent right out of the box and requires no tools to assemble I think it's hard to beat. I'm waiting on my order from basicreptiles which includes a 10' roll of 6" heat tape and a vivarium ve200. The plan is to run 26 inch strips across each level for the 9 and 15 qt tubs. The depth of the shelves gives me some room to slide them forward or back to adjust amount of heat.

Does this sound like a decent setup for the amount of money I've spent? I spent probably all day yesterday reading about appropriate tub spaces based on the size of the snake and it seems like everybody has a different opinion. For now both of my snakes are under 200 grams so I think 7qt will be good for awhile. I'm still not sure if I'll go to 15qt then 32qt or just straight to 32qt. Sorry for rambling just getting excited to get them in a new setup with the possibility of adding more. Hell I can add another shelve with tubs and heat for under 50 bucks.

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lol that rack is no beauty but if u get wiring set-up, sure it will be functional. i would start off with some holes in each individual tub and add more to correct temps/humidity. also if possible, u should think about covering the back and sides. adding some darkness or covering would help your BP's feel more secure.

also those are 7quart tubs? looks at least 15. maybe they're just tall.

I'm still undecided on what to do for the sides but how well it holds heat will help me decide later this week. Also I couldn't find a good answer on how many holes per tub so I figured I'd wait until the heat tape arrived and experiment from there. The dimensions of the tubs are 14 3/8 x 8 1/4 x 6.

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the holes in the tub depends on alotta factors. your geographic location and climate, room temp and humidity, etc. etc. that's why it's recommended to make a few holes, let the temp and humidity stabilize and add additional holes from there to get the ideal settings for a BP. also temps and humidity will also vary by seasons. so if u have too many holes than needed, u can actually cover it up with something like duct tape.

In my glass tank I have a digital thermometer that also reads humidity. Is this something I should worry about in my tubs? For humidity if I really need a constant reading I was going to go with an analog setup like cigar boxes use but a lot of people don't seem to bother with it in tubs. The humidity now runs a pretty constant 50% on the low side and that's with a screen top and heat lamp so I figured I wouldn't need to worry about it with a more efficient setup.

Nothing wrong with using commercial shelving units to make snake racks. You can even cut down the supports between the levels so that the tubs just barely fit, and combine another shelving unit to add more levels, which saves on floor space.

I've been trying to think of the best way to do this. Each support has a male and female end and they screw together so I can't just cut it down like you would on a plastic shelving unit.

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My Wal-Mart shelf n tub set up. Each tub is 38 liter locking lid. Still got enuff room to go higher.

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Originally Posted by skimo281

I've been trying to think of the best way to do this. Each support has a male and female end and they screw together so I can't just cut it down like you would on a plastic shelving unit.

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You can't cut them and screw them into the shelves? I'm trying to imagine what your talking about.

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Originally Posted by chrid16371

You can't cut them and screw them into the shelves? I'm trying to imagine what your talking about.

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It means the ends are threaded and screw into the shelfs instead of smooth like you normally see with plastic shelfs

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Originally Posted by chrid16371

You can't cut them and screw them into the shelves? I'm trying to imagine what your talking about.

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I think the only option would be to replace the supports with something else completely.

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Originally Posted by skimo281

I think the only option would be to replace the supports with something else completely.

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Is the the threaded part of the support and holes in shelves a little smaller then the non threaded part of the supports? If so you could cut threaded part of supports off and drill out shelves holes until supports fit snug in like you would see on plastic ones. Other then that yeah you would need to make new supports or new shelves.



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Originally Posted by chrid16371

Is the the threaded part of the support and holes in shelves a little smaller then the non threaded part of the supports? If so you could cut threaded part of supports off and drill out shelves holes until supports fit snug in like you would see on plastic ones. Other then that yeah you would need to make new supports or new shelves.



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The male end is smaller but the female end is also larger than the hole in the wood. I've thought about maybe going with pvc couplings in the hole and reducing it down for the supports but I'll more than likely just leave it and go with a different setup the next time I build one.

One question I can't seem to find an answer to though. When my heat tape arrives should I go ahead and wire each level even though I only have two snakes at the moment? Not being able to see the tape physically I'm not sure if it would be more of a hassle to add it and wire it each time I move to another level. Is there any real drawback to doing so besides wasting the heat temporarily?

EDIT: I just re read that sorry. Yeah I guess I could drill the wood to fit the OD of the supports and having access to a mill isn't a terrible idea just not sure how to particle board will hold up.

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Originally Posted by skimo281

The male end is smaller but the female end is also larger than the hole in the wood. I've thought about maybe going with pvc couplings in the hole and reducing it down for the supports but I'll more than likely just leave it and go with a different setup the next time I build one.

One question I can't seem to find an answer to though. When my heat tape arrives should I go ahead and wire each level even though I only have two snakes at the moment? Not being able to see the tape physically I'm not sure if it would be more of a hassle to add it and wire it each time I move to another level. Is there any real drawback to doing so besides wasting the heat temporarily?

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Why won't you be able to see the heat tape? It's up to you if you wanna wire it all. It's pretty easy to add new runs though. People buy premade racks everyday and they come with tape all wired together and only put a couple reptiles in, only drawback is the electricity your wasting lol

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Originally Posted by chrid16371

Why won't you be able to see the heat tape? It's up to you if you wanna wire it all. It's pretty easy to add new runs though. People buy premade racks everyday and they come with tape all wired together and only put a couple reptiles in, only drawback is the electricity your wasting lol

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I meant I've never wired it so without looking at it in front of me I'm having trouble seeing how it would work. It's probably not true but I assumed if I were to add another level I would have to cut some off the heat tape since the connections would be crimped down. At 12 watts per ft that would be around 96 watts total which can't be worse than the big heat lamp I'm running 24/7 currently lol. I'll be happy when this is all done, I'm severely over thinking things.

Wire each shelf separately with it's own plug and only plug in the ones your using so no wasted electricity.

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Originally Posted by Jayare

Wire each shelf separately with it's own plug and only plug in the ones your using so no wasted electricity.

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Then your spending money you don't need to. Yes you could do it that way but you have to buy a plug for each and then either have a multi thermostat or a power strip so you can plug them all into the same thermostat, not to mention all the cords you will have. I do agree it would work but it's not something I would personally do unless I had no other options. Easiest would be to wire them all now so you won't have to redo connections later. Plus you could monitor each level and work out the kinks before you start using the other levels, reason I say this is sometimes you get different temps on different levels so you will have to work out the problem or find a happy medium.

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Originally Posted by skimo281

I meant I've never wired it so without looking at it in front of me I'm having trouble seeing how it would work. It's probably not true but I assumed if I were to add another level I would have to cut some off the heat tape since the connections would be crimped down. At 12 watts per ft that would be around 96 watts total which can't be worse than the big heat lamp I'm running 24/7 currently lol. I'll be happy when this is all done, I'm severely over thinking things.

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Now idk if you can wire it this way and hopefully someone sees this post and can say for sure whether or not you can. I've never done it or seen anyone do it this way but I was thinking you could have the plug on one side and then the other end of the heat tape you could add new wires to when your ready to heat another shelf therefore you won't have tare apart the plug. Like I said I've never done it so don't try it until someone confirms it can. I dont see why not though bc it would be like one long piece of tape except you replaced sections of it with wire, I could be wrong though.

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I got everything wired up and ready to and as I'm warming things up and doing an empty test run my temps are off. I seem to be having the opposite problem as most. The temps in the tubs are going above the thermometer probe temp. I've added a lot of holes trying to drop it but it's barley making a dent. What the hell am I doing wrong?

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Originally Posted by skimo281

I got everything wired up and ready to and as I'm warming things up and doing an empty test run my temps are off. I seem to be having the opposite problem as most. The temps in the tubs are going above the thermometer probe temp. I've added a lot of holes trying to drop it but it's barley making a dent. What the hell am I doing wrong?

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Thermometer probe or thermostat probe?

And where did you put the probe? Sometimes moving the thermostat probe to a different section of the heat tape makes a huge difference.

The thermostat probe I'm sorry. After going crazy with the soldering gun I decided to put the thermometer probe on top of the paper towels instead of underneath. Oddly it was a steady 89 when the thermostat is at 92. Then when I move it back under the paper towels it jumps up. Currently it's at 96 but I wouldn't be surprised to see it climb a little more. Should I be fine? If I continue to make holes it's just going to drop the temp on top of the paper towels which is already right around where it needs to be.

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You have thermostat probe directly on top of heat tape right? With only the probe wire taped to the heat tape? Never put tape directly on thermostat probe. Also be careful with putting to many holes in tubs bc you could kill your humidity. Under the paper towels should be no higher than 94 in case the snake gets under them you don't want a burn. Also with the snakes weight on the paper towels and tub it's going to be hotter, something you could do is put something on top of thermometer probe to see how much it goes up with weight on it so you get readings similar to what it would be with the snake laying on it. What brand thermometer are you using to take temps?

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The thermostat probe is placed on top of the heat tape near the edge. Also the only part that is taped down is the wire right up to the probe itself. The thermometer inside is an accurite which I pulled from the glass aquarium I was previously using. The one thing I didn't think about it is when I pulled it off there was a white adhesive pad that stuck to the aquarium from the probe.

Everything seems fine now although I'm not sure what I did exactly. Even with all the holes and the water dish on the cold side I'm still reading 65% humidity which is really strange. People said aquariums were hard to control but I had mine setup in less than 15 minutes and never had a problem with it. Tubs on the other hand are a completely different story lol