I'm done with Animal Plastics...

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Originally Posted by Strick

RB now has a minimum 3 week lead time on their racks now. Looks like one will have to plan ahead no matter what. I orderd one of the Rhino Raxx 3 weeks ago so we shall see how Boaphile does. If their racks are built like their cages I'm in.

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I bought one of the Rhino Raxx from Boaphile. It took about a month to get it, which I knew upfront. I'm very happy with it.

I own an AP rack I got it used but I suspect they are built to order by someone whom works part-time at it. I'd expect it to take a while myself.

My lone experience with Animal Plastics (a 4x2x2 cage with swing doors, flexwatt, and a shelf) was wonderful, and I'm sorry the OP had so many issues on multiple orders.

However, I have no experience with their racks.

I will chime in and say that, if you're looking for alternatives, my experience with Boaphile was fantastic. Their lead time was dead on, and I got my FOUR slot adult rack in precisely 5 weeks. Shipping and tubs included in the price, completely assembled and ready to go, keeps my snakes toasty warm in winter.. yeah, it was a great purchase.

Dunno if anyone mentioned this yet, but they are having issues with their email server.

I have had three different PVC type racks: Animal Plastics, Reptile Basic Racks and HerpEnclosures. HerpEnclossures is the strongest and heaviest of the racks - but they are out of business. The Animal Plastics rack was OK and had to be assembled (seven level 41 qt rack). Not a hard job, but not a simple throw together either.

RB racks were all assembled and ready to work right out of the box. The best customer service by far was from Reptile Basics. I've ordered many things from them and most of the time it ships the same day I order. However, racks do require some lead time.

AP had a tub that was damaged in transit and I emailed them pics. They never responded. I called and they seemed a little agitated and denied that their tubs would get damaged in transit, but did send me a replacement.

Herp Enclosures has gone out of business and when he was in business, he didn't have the best customer service. Although, he made a great rack.

I have switched all of my adults over to ARS Caging (similar to FreedomBreeder) and hope one day to have all of my racks from ARS. They are expensive, but very well built and by far the easiest to clean and maintain. I am hoping to even buy their rodent systems.

You have to remember that many of these companies are small mom and pop operations. There is not a big demand for racks systems for reptiles so we all have to buy from smaller suppliers. When people are building racks, raising their own reptiles and maybe even working another job, it takes a lot of lead time to build racks. Also, if the builder has supply chain issues, it could cause further delays.

I understand your frustration with AP. If your rack is going to be delayed, you should have had some type of communication.

I have to put my vote in for Reptile Basics - I have 3 of their racks and have owned his cages in the past - all were shipped on time and great customer service. All racks and cages worked well.

I've also bought a Jason's Jungle Juvie Rack - another great rack with great customer service but unfortunately I don't think Jason builds racks any longer either.