Advantages Of Tubs/Racks

[MD_Pythons]

Not trying to make anyone mad I'm just trying to weigh the pros and cons of racks and tubs as opposed to tanks. The most attractive thing about tubs to me Is that they are much cheaper than a tank of similar size. And from what I've heard they told humidity better, no mesh for it to escape. I don't have a need for a rack as I've only got 3 snakes and I don't see the point on spending money on one unless I get more. And they don't really display too well, I like to watch them so that factors into this as well.

[Godzilla78]

Main advantages of tubs over tanks:
1) easier to heat
2) easier to keep up humidiity
3) easier to clean
4) cheaper

I guess that is it.

edit 5) takes up less space!

[SDA]

Racks are great if you have multiple snakes or breed snakes and you don't have an entire room/house to dedicate to filling them up with enclosures.

PVC enclosures are great if you don't have a ton of snakes and just have a few to look after.

I have no words on tubs because I choose not to use them but I do know that were there to have been PVC like animal plastics offer and for the cost they offer 7 years ago, I would have never bothered with a glass enclosure for my ball python.

Excluding racks my personal feelings are PVC > tubs > wooden vivarium > glass.

[KevinK]

Godzilla and SDA hit the nail on the head in my opinion.

I've never been opposed to tubs with colubrids, balls, and Kenyans as they don't seem to leave the ground much anyways (it least in my experience). More arboreal species like adult ETB, GTP, and carpets I think deserve pvc cages.

Same goes for boas and large pythons as well...pvc allows your animals to stretch out.

Just my $0.02

[cchardwick]

Snakes feed a lot better in tubs compared to tanks, it's like night and day with ball pythons.

[MD_Pythons]

Snakes feed a lot better in tubs compared to tanks, it's like night and day with ball pythons.

I've never had an issue feeding with tanks

[KayLynn]

If you're against racks (which you seem like you are) then that's fine, but if you're asking for opinions for the sake of arguing your point then that's stirring the pot regardless of whether you say it is or not. There have been numerous threads regarding tanks vs. tubs, you can find your answers there with a simple search

[KevinK]

If you're against racks (which you seem like you are) then that's fine, but if you're asking for opinions for the sake of arguing your point then that's stirring the pot regardless of whether you say it is or not. There have been numerous threads regarding tanks vs. tubs, you can find your answers there with a simple search

What?

The guy started off this thread with "Not trying to make anyone mad I'm just trying to weigh the pros and cons of racks and tubs as opposed to tanks." That seems like a respectable, valid topic to me at least. Doesn't seem like he was trying to stir any pot.

You say there's a search feature and he can use that.....and I say that 98% of the topics that are currently being discussed here can also be found via the search feature. So what if it's repetitive? The entire site is repetitive to an extent with the exception of new morphs and that's about it. It's part of the nature of the hobby.

[artgecko]

Not trying to make anyone mad I'm just trying to weigh the pros and cons of racks and tubs as opposed to tanks. The most attractive thing about tubs to me Is that they are much cheaper than a tank of similar size. And from what I've heard they told humidity better, no mesh for it to escape. I don't have a need for a rack as I've only got 3 snakes and I don't see the point on spending money on one unless I get more. And they don't really display too well, I like to watch them so that factors into this as well.

I've used all four types of housing.. glass tanks, pvc cages, stand-alone tubs, and racks (closed-sided pvc racks).

I would say that for BPs, the advantages you get are the following:

1. Easier to hold humidity and heat (especially the closed-sided racks, not the "economy line" open sided ones)

2. Cheaper to house snakes in appropriately sized housing... (the CB70 rack I have has tubs equivalent to a 40gl breeder footprint, but I can house 3 with less cost than equipping 3 glass tanks or 3 pvc cages)

3. Easier/ Cheaper to heat - one strip of heat tape hooked up to 1 t-stat probe and channel will work for all 3 snakes, vs. needing 1 probe / channel per glass enclosure or pvc cage

4. Lighter / Easier to clean- This is a big one for me. I'm a short person...5'1" and moving a 40gl breeder to do a complete clean is a huge ordeal for me. It is much easier (and safer) for me to take out tubs and clean..This means they get cleaned more often and cleaned more thuroughly, since I can easily fill and soak them and dump the water than in a glass tank. This is also true of pvc cages, you can scrub / clean them, but can't really fill and soak them.

5. More space-saving- This becomes a bigger deal as you get more snakes, but racks do take up less room allowing you to keep more snakes without having tanks / cages everywhere


The main disadvantages IMO are:
1. Lack of visibility
2. Lack of space for more active species--- Note that I would not keep boas, carpets, or other active / climbing species in a rack past small juvie size.
3. Tub size constraints- You can get a pvc cage made up to just about any size you want, with racks, the size / footprint is determined by the size of the tubs you can get. You can find larger tubs (i.e. vision tubs) but these can be hard to find and expensive. So, finding a rack with an odd footprint (if you want one) can be more difficult. This is not a huge issue with BPs, if you go with the standard rack sizing (CB70 for adults, etc.). But if you are keeping, say, blood pythons and want a larger / taller tub, then you will have to look for a manufacturer to work with that can get the tubs you want and custom build one.

[Newbie39]

If you're against racks (which you seem like you are) then that's fine, but if you're asking for opinions for the sake of arguing your point then that's stirring the pot regardless of whether you say it is or not. There have been numerous threads regarding tanks vs. tubs, you can find your answers there with a simple search

How is he stirring the pot????????????? he asking for opinions.