New Rack Complete

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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?