Favorite rack system

So which is your favorite rack system? Freedom Breeder. Animal plastics, Vision racks. What's your favorite and why?

I like AP and C-serpents as far as PVC racks go.

For open metal rack I like freedom breeder, stainless steel racks never rust.

What do you think about the ars racks?

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Originally Posted by Tigerhawk

What do you think about the ars racks?

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I like them but if they are still powder coated like Freedom breeder used to be in the past it will be a matter of time before the coating crack and you see rust, I have seen that on the old freedom breeder racks that used to be powder coated, which is why I like stainless steel.

Thanks, that's something I haven't thought about.

I prefer to make my own. Much cheaper and I get exactly what i want. Not sure why it turned the second one sideways https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/201...bd669933e0.jpghttps://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/201...cfc75e8a57.jpg

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What Scooter said 100%!

Thanks for the pictures and ideas so far. I have several racks that I have built in the past, and they work well for me. However I want my setup to look more professional just for my enjoyment. I've been keeping reptiles for years now, and I don't see a cure for my addiction. So I may as well upgrade my setup, as I think it will make things more efficient as well. That's why I'm looking at commercial racks at this time. So please keep the ideas coming.:)

I'm running RBI racks myself, use VE series for juveniles and cb70 for adults. Going to be ordering a 5 shelf cb70 here shortly also. Here's a pic of mine, smaller ve2 and ve6 stacked on right with cb70 3 shelf on left. All 3 of those units come built, just plug in to tstat and go. https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/201...b6caac07d3.jpg

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There's only one rack that I would go with and that's the ARS rack system (and not the ARS hybrid system with the plastic parts). I've seen melamine racks after they have been used a long time, they often will have mold on them or will swell up from the moisture. And the tubs usually don't slide in smoothly, either they are too tight or too lose and snakes get out LOL. I've also seen a video of BHB when they had a hurricane that blew off the roof of the building, they had a ton of melamine racks that all got ruined from the moisture.

Other 'cheap' racks are too flimsy for me. Just imagine if a toddler or a big dog got into your snake room and pulled down the racks. ARS racks are built like a tank, you could climb them like a ladder. I've also seen a lot of home made racks with not enough ventilation and the moisture causes respiratory infections. Freedom breeder is a close second. However, I like the fact that you can stack different types of levels in an ARS rack and can even buy each level individually.

I also prefer steel since I'm a welder, I can grind down the paint and weld on any accessory (I'm not set up to weld stainless steel, a more advanced technique using specialized equipment). I'm not concerned about rust since I live in a desert climate with no humidity. I would imagine you may get rust if you power wash the racks without drying them off really good (I don't power wash with water, I use the vacuum and a dust rag).

ARS also looks more professional than any other rack out there. I've seen bad reviews on the build quality of freedom breeder compared to ARS but I've never compared them side by side myself.

Here are a few photos of my current setup, all with ARS racks. My next rack will be an ARS hatchling rack that I'm planning on buying this summer once I sell a few babies. I'm also planning on eventually moving out the rodents into their own room, should give me room for another hatchling rack and another breeder rack.

https://ball-pythons.net/forums/cach...akeroom-1a.jpg

These two are my snake breeder and hold back racks.

https://ball-pythons.net/forums/cach...akeroom-2a.jpg

Theses two are my rodent racks (mice and rats).

https://ball-pythons.net/forums/cach...akeroom-3a.jpg

https://ball-pythons.net/forums/cach...akeroom-4a.jpg

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Originally Posted by cchardwick

https://ball-pythons.net/forums/cach...akeroom-1a.jpg

These two are my snake breeder and hold back racks.

https://ball-pythons.net/forums/cach...akeroom-2a.jpg

Theses two are my rodent racks (mice and rats).

https://ball-pythons.net/forums/cach...akeroom-3a.jpg

https://ball-pythons.net/forums/cach...akeroom-4a.jpg

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that room is a work of art. holy cow am i jealous.

And it's amazing I can fit it all in a 10 foot by 20 foot room!

cchardwick your setup is what I had in mind. Everything is laid out so well. I like how, with the professional racks you can get more out of a smaller space. Than you can with some of the diy stuff. Which can be neat as some have shown. However setups like yours are very nice I imagine they save some time when it comes to maintenance as well. Thanks for the pictures.

I recommend avoiding melamine or any presswood in general. They will work fine for awhile, but Like hardwick said, they eventually get moldy, warp and can chip from humidity.
Melamine is not very strong either if you use large tubs with big snakes and heavy moist substrate, water bowls... etc. a lot of weight on my rack shelves.
Either go plastic, or stainless steel, or if you DIY, like me use thick, cabinet grade oak plywood with primer and water-proof deck paint. Stronger than plastic and almost as water-proof, though nothing beats solid pvc if you are building your own.


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That’s an awesome setup Hardwick. You should be an ARS salesman! Lol


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I use c serpent racks and I can't complain. I just set a incubator I got from them as well.

I have a 20 tub ARS 8018 and so far it's pretty nice. My only gripe are the windows in the tubs. The glue job was kind of shoddy so I ended up drilling 6 holes(2 for each long side, 1 for the shorts) and zip tying so I wouldn't have to worry about them popping out anymore. I don't mind the powder coating really. I'm in hot/humid/salty florida so used to living with a bit of rust. I think my next purchase will be a Freedom Breeder 66-6. Mainly because the 66-6 tubs are a fair bit larger than the biggest model ARS offers.

I finally made my mind up. I went with The Freedom Breeder 1030 model.

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Originally Posted by Tigerhawk

I finally made my mind up. I went with The Freedom Breeder 1030 model.

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Sweet super jealous can not wait to see it all set up congratulations 😊