Rack Dis/Advantages

[mebigbadbrat]

Hi. I am still learning how to go around this site as a newbie. Please feel free to move my thread to the right home if needed.

I currently have five Ball Pythons ranging from 71-1800 grams. I recently purchased four this spring/summer and want to get more soon to start my collection. Right now everyone is in a separate tank. All tanks are 88-92 degrees and 65% humidity roughly. All tanks are in my bedroom so my room has been pretty hot this summer. So I am currently deciding on if I should get a rack to help free up space, keep everyone at same heat and humidity. But I am having a hard time finding a rack that I feel will work great. I have looked on craigslist and found two different ones but now I am wondering what the dis and advantages are for the racks. I am worried that a rack will not hold my younger two properly to keep them in. I don't want any to get lose or escape. What would I need if I decide to go with a rack? Do the tubs need lids or?

Here is what one ad said that I am thinking about, "6 tub, 32qt melamine snake rack. divides into 3 pieces for easy moving. Each row has a small recess for one continuous piece of heat tape to weave through. Includes heat tape with cord already on it and the tubs. Does not included thermostat. Feel free to ask any questions. I used it for ball pythons. $80."

I would appreciate any help with deciding and more information.
Thanks again,
Nichole

[kitedemon]

Racks save tons of space. This is the biggest advantage huge space saving. They are fairly efficient power wise if they are in a regulated room.

I personally am very careful about disinfecting and I have found the rack very slow and difficult to clean and fully disinfect. This varies with the rack design. My rack does not have removable shelves so cleaning the upper surface (open tub design) is a bit of a nightmare. Scrub, rinse, dry, disinfect keeping the surfaces wet during the contact time (10 min) is a task in a half. It takes me 45min per tub to do a full clean. The other down side is the average temp the bottom is often cooler than the top. The temps are a range I personally get 2ºF warmest to cool this is with a dual zone controller (top 3 and bottom 2 are on separate probes.)

Racks are usually kept in heated rooms this can be efficient if there is a large number of animals and very inefficient with a few animals. There are limited methods to heat a rack they are basically UTH systems or cable not much else. this is why ambient air temps come from the room usually.

[mebigbadbrat]

Thanks a lot. I will try to post pictures of the two different racks. They look tight, but I am not sure what size tubs I would even need. I am a little worried about getting a rack. My room is usually colder than any other rooms in the house except for this summer. It has been overly warm. I would love to save some space and power one area. What would I need though to keep the heat in the tubs? I have heard of heat tape, UTH, and belly warmers which are built into the rack. Would each tub need its own UTH then?

Thanks again,
Nichole

[kitedemon]

No, some use flexwatt that can be long sections personally I use flexwatt that uses individual outlets so I can unplug the level that is being cleaned. Each level needs a heat source or some kind. Racks don't hold ambient air (cool end) temps well so typically the room needs to maintained at the correct (or close to it) ambient air temp. Typically 80ºF or there about. Most whom use racks have dedicated rooms usually 80ºF and 60%RH this way the rack is held correctly with enough ventilation.

[reptileexperts]

Don't let the dedicated room stuff worry you too much. I have a dedicated room in the house, but it rides about 2-3 degrees warmer than the rest of the rooms simply because of the amount of caging present (racks and PVC Display wall). My ambient in that room is a constant 78 during the day, and drops to 74 at night. My racks hold ambients on the warm side around 82 with a hot spot of 92, and the cool side keeps ambient temps around 79 on my lowest racks and 81 on the highest racks. My heat tape is set on a herpstate t-stat at 97 to achieve these results, and it stays extremely constant. Even my smaller hathcling rack can mantain good temps with back heat in the same room. . . If your room is above 75 on average, I think you should be OK. I am using 6 qt Hatchling / Juvenile Racks, 30.6 qt Male BP rack and 41 qt CB70 tanks for my females.

[mebigbadbrat]

Is flexwatt expensive? I may end up staying with my tanks a little longer so I can save up for a nice rack. Any issues with snakes getting out though? That is my biggest worry.

Thanks again! You all have been a lot of help.
Nichole

[reptileexperts]

I have all kinds of escape artists in racks, including a Burmese in my QT rack! No escapes have happened from the larger or smaller snakes. I get all my stuff from Rich over at RBI (www.reptilebasics.com) and he provides you with pins that keep the drawers from coming open when you do not want them to. On some of my trickier snakes (carpets mainly) I keep these pinned at nearly all times! But I have never came home one day to find them pushed to the edge, so I would not be worried about it. When I first started using them a while back, my parents had fears of snakes getting loose. I showed them how tough it would actually be for one to escape, and they stopped worrying pretty quick.

[kitedemon]

It is not common for them to escape on their own. (human error omited...) however I have read of snakes sliding the tub out. Not likely but not common for sure. The law where I am they says secure so I have locks on the tubs and there is no way snakes could move them.

[mebigbadbrat]

Hmm. So I have two racks I can pick from that I like around my area. Which do you think is the better deal? Both look to be in good condition.

The first has 4 tubs with 1 foot of 11 inch flexwatt for each tub. Says ideal for adult ball pythons. Thermostat not included. Asking 80. It is a 4 high tub by 1.

The second is a 6 tubs, 32qt melamine that divides into 3 pieces. Includes heat tape with cord. Says the piece of heat tape can weave through each row. It is 3 tubs high by two tubs wide. No thermostat included. Asking 80.

Both look nice. The first one is made of what looks like wood. The second looks like a shelving unit. I like the second one a bit more I think as it has more tubs but then I like the idea of each tub already having a piece of flexwatt in the first one.

Would each tub need a thermostat? If so, what kind should I buy?

Nichole

[OhhWatALoser]

Hmm. So I have two racks I can pick from that I like around my area. Which do you think is the better deal? Both look to be in good condition.

The first has 4 tubs with 1 foot of 11 inch flexwatt for each tub. Says ideal for adult ball pythons. Thermostat not included. Asking 80. It is a 4 high tub by 1.

The second is a 6 tubs, 32qt melamine that divides into 3 pieces. Includes heat tape with cord. Says the piece of heat tape can weave through each row. It is 3 tubs high by two tubs wide. No thermostat included. Asking 80.

Both look nice. The first one is made of what looks like wood. The second looks like a shelving unit. I like the second one a bit more I think as it has more tubs but then I like the idea of each tub already having a piece of flexwatt in the first one.

Would each tub need a thermostat? If so, what kind should I buy?

Nichole

lmao I sold both those racks, where ya at in michigan? from sterling heights here.

the woodhaven one was a good rack, I only got rid of it because I built some racks to fit my room better. If I remember correctly I sold it for 60 so the guys jacking the price up on ya
the 2nd ad is mine and already sold, sorry man. honestly.... I hated that rack, while moving in 3 pieces made it easy to move, it was a pain to set up each time, id rather carry the weight and set it down and be done.

always the option of building one also, to build something like those figure 35 bucks for wood, I think tubs are around 6 bucks for the 28qt and like 9 bucks for the 41qt at target (don't quote me on that). flexwatt is 2-3 bucks a foot, depending on size. thermostat can range from 60-150 depends on what you want. and you only need one for each different heat source. like if you have 3 pieces of the same wattage/size/length you can put them on one thermostat, but if they are different in anyway, you need a separate thermostat. Typically figure each rack will have it's own thermostat.