Question about rack systems

[pitbulls4me]

In about 6 months or so, once I get settled in the new house, I would like to make a rack system for the snakes. I have a couple that will stay in tanks but we would like to add more snakes to our collection and figured a rack system would be good. My only question is about building materials and then the heat for them.

Is the melamine the best for the racks? And do they make the pieces alrady covered in the melamine or do you have to buy it seperate and put it on the wood?

Also I have a Ranco thermostat (currently used for my tanks), it that good for a rack system or is there a better one for more wattage? I figured the Flexwatt would be better to go with than the ZooMed UTH, but can anyone explain the wiring or link me to more info? I just want to know how I can have like 3-4 pieces of flexwatt running on the same thermostat.

Any info on getting started would be greatly appreciated... I have a lot of time I would just like to start planning now. Thanks in advance

[Wh00h0069]

Check this link out: http://ball-pythons.net/forums/showt...=920078#920078

I just built a rack like the one in the link, and it works great. I added a back piece to the rack, but other than that it was pretty much the same.

[DeepSouthSerpents]

Yea I just made one this past weekend modeled after that and a few others who had some modifications to that one. Melamine is the condensed wood with white laminate. If you have naked edges of wood exposed you can buy rolls of the 3/4" melamine strips to cover so it looks like it was never cut. I had better luck with the melamine at Lowe's. They have 8 ft x something large sized boards they can cut into any size pieces you want whereas at the Home Depot they only had precut sizes with the drilled holes in the sides to be used in closets (maybe it varies by store, I don't know). There are tons of reptile thermostats with different wattage capabilities. I would just read up on them on the internet and there are lots of threads on them here. Same with the flexwatt wiring. You can also get it pre-wired too. Good luck