Rack Systems..

I have some questions about rack systems... I noticed that breeders only have one hide in the tubs. So from what I understand the hide is over the heat tape (or similar heating source.) So how does the snake thermoregulate. Is it because they are in a tub so it is all dark? I don't know, it's just a thought. And how do they regulate and moniter humidity? Do they just stick a humidifier in the room and keep the whole room up to par? Thanks, and by "they" I just mean anyone who has racks.

I don't use hides but a lot of the people that do use 2 hides - One on the cool side and one on the warm side...
BT

You don't use hides in your racks? I just noticed in all of Ralph Davis' Videos that he only has one hide.

Closed-sided racks seem to be more secure feeling than glass tanks. For that reason, less than two hides may be needed. As long as your snake is eating and physically healthy, having less than two hides is fine. Sometimes extra shy snakes may still need one or two hides even in a rack system. To control the humidity you can experiment with different types of bedding, water bowl sizes and placement, misting frequency, and the amount of ventilation holes in the tub.

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Originally Posted by snickers1714

You don't use hides in your racks? I just noticed in all of Ralph Davis' Videos that he only has one hide.

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Nope - Never have...Works for me but might not work for you...
BT

I do not use hides for the most part in my racks.

All of my racks have one hide them that the snakes use- and I have enclosed racks from RBI :)
I also have one shy girl who is in a 16qt with 2 small hides and she uses them both!! :D
The snakes with one hide are very adept at moving themselves abd the hide all over the tub! ;)
Just depends on the snake :P

I only use hides for the occasional picky eater/obviously stressed out snake. Most of the BPs in my rack dont need a hide. They all eat fine and dont seem stressed at all.

To monitor the humidity and temps, I have a "dummy tub" set up near the middle of the rack. It has everything identical to the tubs that have snakes in them except instead of a snake theres an accu-rite and my herpstat probe. The accu-rite is up against the front of the tub to give me the cool side temp and it's probe & the herpstat probe are in the back of the tub to show the warm end temp. The humidity is also shown on the accu-rite so I can just take a glance over at that tub and it will give me an idea of what the temps and humidity are like in all of the other tubs in my rack. You cant expect it to match up exactly with all of your tubs, but its pretty darn close :gj: To adjust the humidity you can modify the amount of holes in the tubs or even mist lightly if necessary. I havent had to mist mine because I waited till I had the rack running before just drilling out a bunch of holes in all of my tubs. If you drill too many you can cover them with tape though.

Hope that helps. I also hope it doesnt look like I was just rambling on and on and on...

All of my balls have one hide in the rack, except for one super shy ball who has 2. Some of my kings have hides, and some don't...they tend to hide under the paper anyway.

The snake is able to thermoregulate because only one side (on the bottom or the back) of the rack is heated. Closed rack systems tend to hold humidity very well. It's all about how many holes you put in the tubs.

With an open rack, many breeders will run space heaters and humidifers to help create the proper environment.

Thanks for all the responses. I just wasn't sure about all that stuff, but I get it now. Thanks again.

:) we use one hide per enclosure (except for little snakes, they get two to take up more space) they typically move the hides around all over the enclosure. we use news paper in our racks and the snakes hide beneath the newspaper, instant hide and they can thermo regulate all over the place :D

Hope that helps

I have a rack using 15qt tubs and have a small beanfarm "herpatat" which is a combination water dish and hide in each tub. I find them to be a convienient space saver that is easy to clean.

I use one hide, I place it on the warm side but the snakes re-arrange their furniture all the time (from cool to hot side) ;)

I also don't use hides in any size tubs. I will put a picky eater in a cramped tub, and I have used the crumpled newspaper trick which has helped with less than great feeders. Snakes will adjust to not having a hide and being moved to a bigger tub if given time. Most of my snakes don't miss a meal when graduating to a larger tub.

For us, since we just finished building two new racks, we are only offering hides to our shyest ball pythons. The rest move to the back of their tubs where the heat is and it's darkest, then move to the front where it's cooler and where the ambient light from the room would be available to them. They all seem to be moving around as they please and as they need to for thermoregulation. In essence, the rack acts basically as one big hide and allows them a lot of privacy even when they are in the very front of their tubs.

I don't use a hide box for all my snakes, just for the picky eatter.