Do you have any Pvc racks, like animal plastics, c serpents etc

[Jamiesniper]

Hi all,

I live in the uk and I've heard a lot recently that pvc racks have seem to be taking off quite well in the states,

To anyone that has one,
1. How do you find them? Are they worth the money?

2. How well do they keep heat?

3. Have you noticed any down sides in pvc vs melamine racks?

Thanks


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[bcr229]

1) I have several from three different manufacturers. I purchased them all used on local classified forums for reptiles or Craigslist. Yes they are worth the money, even if I had to pay full retail for them.

2) They are ok, not as good as melamine but I keep my snakes in a room that has supplemental heat so the rest of the house can be cold in the winter while that room is warm.

3) Downsides to melamine: it is heavy and since the interior is wood it does swell a bit in high-humidity environments. Downside to PVC is its costly compared to melamine.

[Jamiesniper]

Thanks for your reply!

I have my room heated too as the Irish summer can be just as harsh as the winter

The reason I ask is because large sheets of melamine is hard to get over here unless you're buying pallets of it and for 1 adult rack, that's just not possible.

Like you say melamine is quite heavy, I have a 6 tub melamine rack and it takes 2 people to move it,
One advantage that I do have is that my job works closely with a manufacturer of PVC sheeting so PVC is easier for me to get than melamine


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[Jabberwocky Dragons]

1) Have both melamine and PVC and greatly prefer PVC. Make sure you order from someone reputable. I have RBI and C-Serpents racks, which are really great and then a not-so-great one which was cheaper from a no-name. Spend more and get quality.

2) Mine retain heat quite well. I had a cold snap one night last winter and it got very cold in the reptile building (upper 30s) despite adding multiple space heaters to back up the main heater. You should have seen the meter spin. The racks all stayed warm and did really well. Make sure to get enclosed racks.

3) Support the pvc with a firm base so it doesn't bow over time (e.g., don't put directly on carpet).

I'm actually planning on moving all of our racks from the reptile building to a renovated basement today (see #2 above). The PVC will be very easy. I'm not looking forward to moving the 5 tub melamine rack by myself... especially down a very narrow set of basement stairs. If moving is a consideration in your future, even just from room to room, that's a big plus for pvc.

[Jamiesniper]

Thanks for your reply!

There's nobody this side of the water building PVC racks and shipping from the US to Ireland is pretty expensive especially for a cb70 tub rack, what I plan to do is build a hatchling rack using PVC and see how that goes then build a cb70 rack.

In my work we have all the equipment to build them so if it does go well for me then I have a few friends that would be looking one too.

As a support for the base I was going to fabricate a steel base with castors for ease of moving it about, melamine racks are a pain to move

The rack I plan to build would be fully enclosed, I find they help to keep ambients in the tubs quite well,

When I do go ahead with building one I'll probably do a post with how I got on so fingers crossed


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[Stewart_Reptiles]

They are worth the money, keep heat very well, unlike melamine they are light but sturdy and do not sag over time, they are also fire retardant.