A few Qs about RBI racks.

[mainbutter]

So I'm looking at expanding from one '08 female normal to a few more BPs and am looking at RBI for a nice rack.

I'm trying to decide between the Iris Sweaterbox Rack-32 Qt and the CB-70.

What size BP will the 32 QTs hold? Are they a suitable size for breeding two adults together in?

Belly or back heat?? Why does it matter?

I'm probably going to get a helix thermostat since I can go ahead and just get one of those from RBI anyways.

I'm kind of assuming that the 32 QT iris sweaterbox rack with a helix thermostat will be exactly what I'm looking for, plus 4 tubs instead of 3, and the possibility of getting some dividers for housing more younger bps.

[ThyTempest]

I know a lot of people house adult males in 32qt's, and some that breed in 32qts. Personally, I think a 40ish qt is better for adult males and small females, and that something a litter bigger would be best for the big/gravid females and breeding pairs.

Back or belly heat is lonnnng discussion and pretty controversial. I use belly heat since I really dont any reasons to use back heat...but maybe someone will convince me.

If you are set on buying them, more power to you, but if you are at all handy, home-made racks are typically much cheaper. Also, you can custom build the rack to whatever you want the dimensions to be.

[mainbutter]

well more like I'm going to be getting it for my birthday I'm not handy at all with building things. In fact I'm pretty bad at it.

[snakewrangler]

RBI has a FAQ on their website about the difference between belly and back heat. For me, its a question of what the ambient temperature is in the room where the rack will be placed. Since I have a dedicated herp room that is usually 75 degrees in the daytime, I could use a back heated rack if I wanted to, its just that I never bought one. I'm not opposed to them, its just that I always bought belly heat since I moved a lot in the years before I bought my house and I never knew where my racks were going to end up.

FWIW, you will find a lot of people who like Helix Tstats. I bought three of them, and after having two fail on me, I gave away the third. I've never had a problem with Herpstats though.

[FIREball]

I use RBI 32qt for adult males and females up to 1500g, once they reach 1500g they go into a RBI CB70.

Get the 32qt for now then you will need to buy a CB70 later down the road.

I use belly heat on both.

[nixer]

per rbi's rack FAQ( http://reptilebasics.com/Rack-FAQ-sp-6.html ):

How Big of a snake can I get into one of these? What else will these house?

We routinely keep baby balls, boas and colubrids in the shoebox rack. Baby balls are comfortable up to about 300 grams, baby boas up to about 16"-18", and colubrids up to about 20"-24". Also an ideal box size for growing individual terrestrial geckos.

The 15 Qt.MCB-S tub works well as a "grow out" tub for baby Balls (500+ grams), Boas, Colubrids or Geckos. Some smaller species may do fine in this tub for life.

The Sweater box rack (MCB-L tub) will house balls up to about 2000g, boas to about 36" and most adult kings and corns. These boxes have a little more floor space than the old Rubbermaid sweaterboxes us oldtimers used to use. These boxes also work well for small colonies of terrestrial geckos such as Leopard geckos or Fat Tail geckos.

The CB-70 rack will house about any Ball Python you will ever own and boas up to about 4 feet. It will also do well with larger colubrids such as gophers, pines, and large milk snakes.

[jglass38]

I use 32qt tubs for 95% of my collection. Rich makes an awesome rack! Go with belly heat unless you have a heated snake room. Good luck!

[starmom]

I use RBI 32qt for adult males and females up to 1500g, once they reach 1500g they go into a RBI CB70.

Get the 32qt for now then you will need to buy a CB70 later down the road.

I use belly heat on both.

I agree. I have 2000g+ females and the 32qt is just too small for them. I also have a couple of larger males who are outgrowing the 32qt.