First Rack Arrives Tommorow

I am receiving my Natures Spirit rack tommorow. It's the 3 Hole 41-qt. Sterilite Rack and the Tubs Measure 33 1/2 x 17 1/2 x 5 1/2,the rack weighs 40 pounds. I can't wait to house my BP's in the rack but I have few questions.

1) What products can I use to clean the tubs, water bowls, and hiding spots? how often?

2) In the tubs, how many air holes should I poke to get good air circulation?

3) I want to stop using large waterbowls because my female loves to tip them over. I've had to use them because of the heat bulbs I've used in the past. Can a smaller waterbowl still get the humidity up to 50-60%? I basically don't want to use a waterbowl that she can soak in, just one that will provide a good enough humidity and she can drink out of too.

4) Do you have this particular rack? If you do, what's your set up like and how do you keep all the temps perfect?

Thanks,
Rusty

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Originally Posted by Rusty

I am receiving my Natures Spirit rack tommorow. It's the 3 Hole 41-qt. Sterilite Rack and the Tubs Measure 33 1/2 x 17 1/2 x 5 1/2,the rack weighs 40 pounds. I can't wait to house my BP's in the rack but I have few questions.

1) What products can I use to clean the tubs, water bowls, and hiding spots? how often?

2) In the tubs, how many air holes should I poke to get good air circulation?

3) I want to stop using large waterbowls because my female loves to tip them over. I've had to use them because of the heat bulbs I've used in the past. Can a smaller waterbowl still get the humidity up to 50-60%? I basically don't want to use a waterbowl that she can soak in, just one that will provide a good enough humidity and she can drink out of too.

4) Do you have this particular rack? If you do, what's your set up like and how do you keep all the temps perfect?

Thanks,
Rusty

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Congrats on the new rack. I've heard Casey makes some great racks! Once a week or when fouled you should remove all feces/urates from the tub and spray down with Chlorhexidine. Let sit a couple minutes and wipe dry. Chlorhexidine is extremely safe (its used in oral surgeries). You should clean the waterbowl as well or to answer your 3rd question, do what Adam suggests and purchase 4" PVC couplers from home depot and use 16oz deli containers for the water. They fit right inside, wont tip and can be thrown away weekly for the most sanitary conditions possible. I would use a soldering iron (in a ventilated space) to create a row of holes on each side around 1"-2" apart. As far as the rack itself, I have APs which are similar. My snakes have never eaten better than they do since being moved to a dark secure rack environment. Hope this helps!

Jamie

Great info thanks a lot. Do you know where I could purchase that cleaning product?

My good pal Matt at MG Reptiles. www.mgreptiles.com . Excellent prices and he'll get it to you quickly. Its Chlorhexidine. In a pinch you could use Wipe Out which is made by Zoo Med. Its a green liquid. I dont love it because its way more harsh than Chlorhexidine. I have used Chlorhexidine to wipe down my snakes that have crawled through their own excrement.

For the rack I'm going to be using a Johnson T-Stat. Two things I want to know is: What's the best way to tape the probe to the flexwatt? And also, I have a ceiling fan in the room where my BPs will be housed, is it a good idea to turn on this fan and should I leave it on all day?

Thanks again!

I tape the probe to the flexwatt in the center tub. I'm not sure if Casey puts the flexwatt in a groove of some sort but if he doesnt you will need to tape it off to the side of the tubs. As far as a ceiling fan, I always ran mine in my last snake room. I'm not sure if it makes a difference or not though.

Just melt the holes bit by bit. Easier to have a few and add more than have to worry about having done way too many I figure. Tubs take time to settle and stabilize so it may take you a few days to hit on the sweet spot.

in addition to the above, i would leave the fan on low 24/7. this will help to spread out the heat /humidity in the room and give some ventilation to the room. you may want a small space heater to keep the room area in the upper 70's at least, essentially in a rack your cool side will be around a deg. or two of your room temp.


vaughn

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Originally Posted by kavmon

in addition to the above, i would leave the fan on low 24/7. this will help to spread out the heat /humidity in the room and give some ventilation to the room. you may want a small space heater to keep the room area in the upper 70's at least, essentially in a rack your cool side will be around a deg. or two of your room temp.


vaughn

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I knew there was a reason I left the fan on 24/7! My new snake room is perfect. I cant believe how its always at 82-84 with no problem. No exterior windows have been a lifesaver

Get your chlorhexidine from www.valleyvet.com . It will save you some needed money :)

Thanks for all the responses guys, I can't wait for this rack to come in a few hours. Who knows where I can find those deli cups Jamie mentioned and why do they have to be thrown away every week?

Thanks again

Matt sells them as well and so does any restaurant supply store. You just need 16oz round deli containers with no lids. The reason for having them in the first place is to change them instead of having to wash bowls.

thanks becky! wow that's less than half what i pay for a gallon!!! http://www.valleyvet.com/ct_detail.h...2-00b0d0204ae5
i'm putting that link on my fav.


vaughn

i just ordered some deli cups, from food service direct. the best price i found anywhere. kudos to jedi wysocki for the link. http://www.foodservicedirect.com/ind...ers_&_Lids.htm

i'm going to use 8 oz. ones for babies and 16oz. ones for adults. the 16oz. will go inside a 4" pvc coupling perfectly.

vaughn

I'm really lucky to have a GFS (Gordon Food Services - restaurant supply but open to the public with no membership costs) just minutes away. They have deli cups in a huge array of sizes for just pennies per cup and no shipping costs.

Good stuff all!

Just got the rack about an hour ago, it's awesome! I probed the middle shelf of the rack with the johnson t-stat and I'm still setting everything up. I'm going to use the hides and bowls I have for now but soon I will probably be doing the deli cup idea because it will save alot of time. I'm going to mess around with the temps to get them just right before I put my BPs in. I'm going to try to get some pictures aswell. Thanks again for all the help all of you have provided!

Any more must haves or must knows?

- Rusty

I'm actually having abit of a problem with the temps in the rack. I have a digital thermometer taped to the botton of one tub and I place the tub in each of the 3 shelves in the rack to see how much heat I can get. When the tub is placed in the middle rack the hot spot reaches 94 with the thermostat at 99 but when the tub is placed on the top shelf I have to crank up the thermostat all the way to 108 just to get 94 on that particular shelf.

Is that normal? I used duct tape to tape the probes of both my thermostat and dig. thermometer...

Also something that I found weird is that the flexwatt isnt set up so it touches the bottom of the tub. it is on the roofs of the sheves 2,3 and the 3rd shelf has the flexwatt under the floor of that shelf...

Congrats on the rack! Looking forward to seeing some pics of it. It takes time to stabilize temps in a rack from my experience. But once its set it should be good to go.

Is that top shelf the one that doesnt have the flexwatt directly under the tub? If so, that would explain why it needs the extra 10 degrees of heat to get to the proper temps.

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Originally Posted by jglass38

Congrats on the rack! Looking forward to seeing some pics of it. It takes time to stabilize temps in a rack from my experience. But once its set it should be good to go.

Is that top shelf the one that doesnt have the flexwatt directly under the tub? If so, that would explain why it needs the extra 10 degrees of heat to get to the proper temps.

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Well that's the thing, none of the tubs have flexwatt directly under them. the flexwatt goes as follows: It is one strip of 3" flexwatt zig-zagged from the bottom shelf (under the pvc floor) snaking the flexwatt on the right side and then continuing on the roof of that shelf (all on the 3rd shelf) and then onto the next shelf the flexwatt that was on the roof of the 3rd shelf is now snaked through the left side of shelf 2 and continuing to the roof of shelf 2 and then it just ends. shelf 1 does not have any flexwatt on any sides.


Here is a simple diagram of the rack flexwatt set up.

=======
= xxxxxx= ( SHELF 1) heated by:
= xxxxxx= roof of shelf 2.
=======
=~~~~~= (SHELF 2) heated by:
=~xxxxx = roof of shelf 3.
=~=====
=~~~~~= (SHELF 3) heated by:
=xxxxxc~= under pvc floor.
=====~=
x~~~~~x

~ ( FLEXWATT)
= (RACK)