Why would anyone buy a rack?

[MidSouthMorphs]

I know Animal Plastics uses the PVC which is quite expensive but does not cave like most woods will. And the Heat Tape is included in the price. For instance, a 7 level CB70 racks with heat tape is 455 with Animal Plastics. Not a bad deal in my opinion. Especially with the prices of the PVC that they use and the grooves are cut for the heat tape. It is actually a good deal.

[kitedemon]

I can't speak for the US but here in Canada a commercial business (any) must use an electrician to connect any and all electrical wiring over 12v. If you want to breed snakes for sale here you cannot wire a rack your self unless you are licensed electrician. building your own rack here is still going to cost big, I priced it out a while ago, with everything including the electrician it was just under 900$ It was not worth it, my time is worth a lot more than minimum wage! I bought my rack and didn't compromise my insurance or open myself up for criminal negligence charges.

[Tidus10]

the big rack companies also sell piece of mind with their racks.. awesome changeable ventilation, smooth tubs, already taped, stackable, wheels.. everthing... granted i cant afford one, but i figure it would be amazing to own one....

[spitzu]

I'm glad that we were able to save a few thousand dollars by building our first set of racks ourselves, but I fully intend to replace them all with FB racks one of these days(years). Well built, perfectly fitted tubs, no sloshing water due to tubs hitting the heat tape, and permanent. You'd never have to replace those bad boys.

[akjadlnfkjfdkladf]

If you're about to place a bunch of expensive snakes in one unit maybe it's worth the extra $1000 to avoid the effort of building one and to be sure your rack isn't about to cook all the snakes.

[Brian Fobian]

My racks are out of steel, so I couldn't possibly build one like this myself...

[RyanT]

I buy Animal Plastics racks, because:

1. I suck at doing handy work. I don't have the patience and end up yelling like an idiot and throwing things.

2. I can be absolutely sure that it's made correctly, no worries

3. They have the heat cables, not shotty looking, fire hazard heat tape.

4. They look really good. In case ya haven't noticed, most homemade racks are ghetto as all get-out.

Haha.

Ya get what ya pay for.

[Chris633]

When I first saw the prices on racks, I was pretty suprised as they appeared expensive to me. SO I can understand how the OP felt. But the more I thought about it and broke it down to cost of housing per snake and what other options cost, it really isn't that bad. This is keeping in mind that I am very frugal and a bargain hunter.

When you pay for a rack the cost goes towards materials, labor/time, craftsmanship/skill, the tools used to build them and the space needed to do so.

If I wanted to build a rack, I would need to buy tools and materials (I don't know tools, so I couldd't even estimate that cost). I don't even know where I would build it as I am in an apartment. Then let us consider craftsmanship/skill. I've put IKEA furniture together wrong. Anyone who builds racks sucessfully has a craft skill I do not possess. Next is time. There are many things I would rather do than build. But saying I tried, I could not even say how long this would take me. I've looked at some of the DIY plans foor a cooler incubator and that seems like more than I want to deal with and from what I have heard they are easy to build. They there is getting materials and all of the driving and gas money that goes into that.

I think if I was a craftsman, had the tools & space and an inexpensive source for materials that building may make sense to me. Especially if I actually liked building things (which I don't). All this taken into consideration, I find that purchasing a rack is preferable. Buying allows me to not have to worry about all those things mentioned above and I can then focus on things I actually enjoy with my time.

Now that being said, the frugal part of me wishes I could make all of these things myself at half the cost.. lol..

[Ch^10]

Why do I buy racks as opposed to building them myself?

Above all, convenience. Function and aesthetics fall shortly behind. I don't have the time or the space to build my own racks. Would I love to do so? Yes. Do I have the knowledge and skill set to design and build my own? Absolutely. Do I have the tools and access to the necessary equipment? You better believe it; I have free permission to use equipment that many have never even heard of (including myself). I have access to 2 very adept professional machinist, who wouldn't charge me a penny--not for advice and not for work.

Then why you may ask do I continue to spend $xxx to $XXX per rack? My time is more important to me than my money. I have way too many tasks occurring simultaneously to devote even a small portion of my "free" time to deal with rack design/construction.

Economics 101: time = money and nothing is free. Because that time spent designing/building a rack took away from either work (direct money) or "free" time (indirect money; time you choose to spend not working and therefore not making money).

[King's Royal Pythons]

I am not affiliated with them at all, but after keeping up with this thread and doing some research, the racks from C Serpents Reptiles are the cheapest per slot rack I've found. They come with heat tape that is in a slot so the tub does not rub on it, and they come with the tubs. Made out of 1/2 inch pvc. I think the cost for an 18 slot rack (3 wide, 6 tall shoebox tubs) with heat, tubs, and shipping was $265.
I think I've built my last rack.