New Rack Complete

Ok My new rack is complete. I had posted this under a old thread I thought I would move it foward. So here it is. It was built from 9 pcs of melimine right off the shelf at Home Depot, 23 3/4 x 48, along with 18... 32 qt Sterilite Tubs

https://ball-pythons.net/gallery/fil.../7/8/Rack1.jpg

https://ball-pythons.net/gallery/fil.../7/8/Rack2.jpg

https://ball-pythons.net/gallery/fil.../7/8/Rack3.jpg

This my Male Pastel enjoying his new tub.

Any questions on the rack just post And I will anwser them for you. I am just glad to get it done where I dont have to worry about there temps. I had a Zoo Med T-Stat that I was always adjusting, temps to high and then low. But it's all good now.

Thanks Richard

That is looking great!!! I need to get started on building one, the pvc one that i have is now full and i am not done yet. I did get an idea from the breeder i pick my snakes up from on the melamine rack. He found at a local hardware store a piece of thin metal that is u shaped that slips onto the face of the mel. to stop it from bowing over time. That said i will be visiting my local homedepot to pick some stuff to get started on mine. Great rack!

That came out awsome! :gj: What size tubs?

on a side note, really nice pastel!!

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Originally Posted by Enve

That came out awsome! :gj: What size tubs?

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Enve
They are 32 Quart Sterilite tubs

is 94 to hot? jw. mine are set for like 87

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Originally Posted by Halfdawg

Enve
They are 32 Quart Sterilite tubs

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i'm an idiot, didn't read the last few words of the original post :( long night last night ;)

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Originally Posted by k1ingdomKaa

is 94 to hot? jw. mine are set for like 87

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Warm side should range from 92-94, and the cool side from 82-84 Mine are 94 on the warm side and the cool side is 82. The number are right in the right range.

Richard

Nice looking rack. Did you go with back heat or belly heat? Do you need any special screws with that construction? What did you use for the back? What was the cost of the rack excluding the flexwatt and Helix (so basically just the actual construction items)?

That looks great, awesome job:gj:

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Originally Posted by frankykeno

Nice looking rack. Did you go with back heat or belly heat? Do you need any special screws with that construction? What did you use for the back? What was the cost of the rack excluding the flexwatt and Helix (so basically just the actual construction items)?

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Jo
I went with the belly heat and I used 4 inch Flex Watt.
I used a #6 x 2 inch deck screw for the main construction, but I found that with the Melimine if you are not careful they will strip. I may at a later date remove them and replace one at a time with a larger screw, but we will see. On the back I used 3/16 hardboard I wanted something thicker like 1/4 inch but was unable to find what I wanted. I found some peg panel board screws #8 x 1 1/4 inch that I used on the back and they worked out great.

32 Qt Tubs 18 X 7 = 126
9 pcs 23 3/4 x 48 Melinine 9 X 10 = 90
50' Melimine Edging = 10
Aluminum Tape = 7
Screws = 5
Back = 10
The toal with out the heat tape and Helix was $248 plus tax and 4 hours of time

I also used a 1/4 sheet of mdf as a spacer between the tubs and shelves as I but it together but I would use a 3/16 if I did it again. A 1/4 was alittle to much.

Here is a pic of the heat tape. I taped the 4 inch flex watt down in a couple of spots with aluminum tape. I then used some 5 inch real thin aluminum I had to go over the flew watt to help protect the heat tape from sliding tubs over it.

https://ball-pythons.net/gallery/fil...8/HeatTape.jpg

https://ball-pythons.net/gallery/fil.../HeatTape2.jpg

Thanks Richard

Hey Richard,

first off........the rack looks great.

I assume this would work with the 28 qt tubs as well? Also, as far as the flexwatt..........did you just use one long piece and snake it from shelf to shelf or is each shelf individually wired?

thanks!

very professional. To bad carpets not level ;);). hahaha

this is what racks should be based off of. simple, effective, and percise

Nice job Richard

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Originally Posted by jonf

Hey Richard,

first off........the rack looks great.

I assume this would work with the 28 qt tubs as well? Also, as far as the flexwatt..........did you just use one long piece and snake it from shelf to shelf or is each shelf individually wired?

thanks!

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By the way thanks for the reply. Yes it would work with the 28 qt tubs I have some Sterilitle #1846 28 Qt tubs and they will work they are shorter and just alittle bit narrow then the 32 Qt tubs. I wired the shevles individually in 48" strips.

Thanks Richard

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Originally Posted by patthesnakeman

very professional. To bad carpets not level ;);). hahaha

this is what racks should be based off of. simple, effective, and percise

Nice job Richard

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Thanks Pat
I was goingto put caster's under it and I have the inserted type nuts under it but casters dont roll very well on carpet. Right now I just have some 2 x 2's under and it looks unlevel because you can not see the other board.

Thanks Richard

thanks for the info Richard. I have an over-abundance of the 28qt's that I've been waiting to put to use! Also, since I've never wired a rack with flexwatt (only incubators so far), got another question! Are you pretty much just plugging the individual strips into a powerstrip and then the plugging the powerstrip into the T-stat?

Thanks for the list, that's so helpful to all our members when they contemplate rack building. :) Very nice job!

jonf
Yes the Heat tape is wired individually and then plugged into a powerstrip and then to the T-Stat. you got it.

Thanks Richard

thanks again for the info! your in my neck of the woods so take care and enjoy this cool weather. Good ol' Florida winter......... lasts from Wed. to Sun!

Just a side questions since I have never really seen this answered. Is a 32 quart tub big enough for a BP for its entire life or would it really have to be bumped up to a 41 quart when they get to be full grown?

anyone else feel free to chime in :)

but in my experiences, alot of people will house adult males in 32qts and move the females up and out to bigger accommodations...........

I'm thinking I could easily use this design to work with the 32 qts size but then flip my extra large tubs sideways in some levels for our really big females. I love a versatile rack!

One thing I may have missed, what did you use for the back of the rack?

how are you keeping the heat up is it a heat pad on the back wall or does each snake have a belly heat pad?

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Originally Posted by Halfdawg

Jo
I went with the belly heat and I used 4 inch Flex Watt.

Here is a pic of the heat tape. I taped the 4 inch flex watt down in a couple of spots with aluminum tape. I then used some 5 inch real thin aluminum I had to go over the flew watt to help protect the heat tape from sliding tubs over it.

https://ball-pythons.net/gallery/fil...8/HeatTape.jpg

https://ball-pythons.net/gallery/fil.../HeatTape2.jpg

Thanks Richard

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Here's where he answered my question about heat. :)

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Originally Posted by frankykeno

I'm thinking I could easily use this design to work with the 32 qts size but then flip my extra large tubs sideways in some levels for our really big females. I love a versatile rack!

One thing I may have missed, what did you use for the back of the rack?

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I used 3/16 Hardboard from Home Depot. I had the guy cut it to the size I needed for the back. I think it cost 10 dollars for the sheet.

Also Sterilite has a 74 Quart tub that will slide right into this rack. The #1996 44"L x 19 3/4"W x 6 3/8"H


https://ball-pythons.net/gallery/fil.../8/1996_LG.jpg

Thanks Richard

Nice rack! I love the pictures on top of it. Are they your inspirations? :P

Oh nice Richard, I have four of those huge split lid tubs that I house our biggest female BP's in so it's nice to know they'll fit too. :)

Richard, Wow man very impressive! The rack looks great! Heat tape looks beautiful. Now all you need is three or four more of those bad boys all slapped together for the wall o' racks...HA:headbang:

You get a big pat on the back! :) Great job!!!

Thanks everyone for the complements on the rack. The funny thing about this rack is I was trying to figure out how to build it and the wife said just use the shelves as the sides and I was like dah why didn’t I think of that. I only have 9 BP's at this point so it leaves me room to expand, as you know an addict always needs one or two more. I already have plans to fill this one up. Like Larry said I just need 3 or 4 more of these and I will have a nice wall rack. I also have to make sure I am able to feed everything forever, but I have a plan there also. I will just need a little help from some of the peeps here the keep rats and I will go from there.

At this point I do have one shelf on the bottom middle that is tight but at this point it is nothing I can't live with.

Thanks everyone, Richard

Thanks Laooda
This was a fun project and has made taking care of the Ball Pythons easier.

i need to build this, at least a couple of levels!

Richard you did a beautiful job, way to go!

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Originally Posted by Swmrguy11

Just a side questions since I have never really seen this answered. Is a 32 quart tub big enough for a BP for its entire life or would it really have to be bumped up to a 41 quart when they get to be full grown?

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well is it?

you could get away with 32qt's for adult males (actually I think a lot of people on here keep males in either 28 or 32 qts) and even small adult females but it would be a tight fit for some larger girls........

I have pics of my build here: http://www.ball-pythons.net/forums/s...271#post725271. It's identical and since the main site is down for the write-up, maybe that will help. Amazing rack idea and setup.

Sticky worthy! :D

I don't know if you could provide a full pic of one of your tubs. I've never seen the inside of tub in a rack and I'd like to see how your hides are setup. How many can you provide in such a small tub?

The Flexwatt was alittle long so I just ran it up the side and the tubs slide right past it.
http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y10...s/IMG_1365.jpg

Here is the inside of the tubs as you can see I do not use hides inside the tubs and the snakes have no problems moving from the rear to the front of the tubs. This room is a very low traffic area.

http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y10...s/IMG_1367.jpg
http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y10...s/IMG_1368.jpg
This is an early 07 Male

On this rack the 32 qt #1756 and the 15 qt #1754 are the same height. you can use 4 15 qt tubs to cover one row.

I think my next rack is going to be a 15 qt #1754 24 tub rack using 3 inch flexwatt. It will be 4 tubs across and 6 high.

Gorgeous rack! Gives me a little inspiration to build my own.

-Chris-:)

this thread is just what i was looking for and it answered all my questions on how to build a rack and was a lot simpler than another rack i was planning on building. also it hold 8 more snakes than the other plans i was looking at:D

i live in an apartment and low on space would it be possible to stack one on top of another with some kind of steal strips. the one on top would be smaller shoe box or 15qt for my babies.

i was wondering if the 41qt is the same height as the 32qt

now it is time to go shopping

Great looking rack....How much did that cost you to build??

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Originally Posted by mcbrayerreptiles

Great looking rack....How much did that cost you to build??

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Justin check post #11 http://www.ball-pythons.net/forums/s...9&postcount=11

it was $248 plus the cost of t-stat and heat tape.

How much did each one of those boards cost you?

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Originally Posted by InfernalEnd

How much did each one of those boards cost you?

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9 Pcs 23 3/4 x 48 x 3/4 9.97 each

Is this an adult rack?

So due to the lack of being able to find Sterilite 1756 Tubs I made a rack like yourse using the new 28qt Sterilites from Walmart, they are 5$, The bottom 3Rows I used the 1756 tubs I had left over, thanks for the Post you inspired me to make this until I get a ARS 7030 or similar. Well Done :gj:

My racks complete I just need to replace my Alife T stat to a Helix dbs or similar.

I was just curious if anyone has tried to use this rack with the new style of tubs that is made by sterilite. They aren't as square as the ones used in this rack, but i think that they will still work. Any opinions or examples?

Built the same rack using your directions and it turned out great. The only down fall was that i built it downstairs and my snake room is upstairs. It was a job getting it up the steps.LOL!!!! thanks for sharing the blue print for a great rack.