Which rack to get?

[frenchy]

So after a few months of struggling w humidity and now non feeding I have decided to purchase a rack system. I was planning on building one but I dont have time nor the know how on how to wire the heat.

Whuch bring me to the question which rack system should I get. Ive been looking at all kinds of different places and am overwhelmed so I am going to ask the assistance of my fellow bp.netters

Background- only 2 bps at the moment a lemon blast and a pastel I also have corns but I know they cant go in the same rack system cuz of the temp differences. But another reason I want a rack is I wanna add more bps to my collection and vivs are too cumbersome and need to much room. Next year I will be breeding my lemon blast and pastel so I want room for all my the babies.

So do I need two rack a hatchling and adult rack or can I put them on the same rack?

Right now they are at 689 groms the pastel female and 594 for the male lemon blast.


Do I need more than one thermostat or will just one work for the whole rack.


PLEASE PLEASE HELP IM TIRED OF FIGHTING W HUMIDITY AND FEEDING REFUSALS

[yeroc1982]

I built mine from melamine over the christmas holidays. Was going to buy one but they were waay too expensive. This one cost me under $100. Its got 5 spaces for tubs, tubs i use are cb70's. Use can use any tub smaller, as long as its same height. I used belly heat zigzaged from top to bottom(very easy). Temps stay perfect at 90-91 with a Herpstat. Humidiy is pretty good also.

Also for the wood, u can get it precut at HD or whatever and just screw it together, pretty simple if you are good with your hands. I can give you my measurements if you want.

[frenchy]

Ya I mean I know I could build the rack no prob if I had time but I have none. How long it take to build the rack? the only thing I have no how to do is wire the heat ive watch you tube vids etc cant figure it out. And I dont wanna mess anything up for them

[yeroc1982]

Took maybe 1.5 hr for everything. I bought 9 feet of flexwatt. Started at the bottom shelf, went across then up the wall then across the up the wall..etc. I just didnt screw the sides totally tight till i got all the flexwatt in place, then just snugged the sides in, being careful not to pinch the flexwatt. There will only be one plug then for all the flexwatt, which i like cuzx it looks nice and clean. But you will need a good thermostat either way you go.

[Homegrownscales]

If you do want to invest and I say invest bc they are quite expensive I bought the vision cb70 for my balls. It was quite easy to set up. But pro racks are on the pricey side. I went with this for my adults bc I didn't have the time or the knowhow at that time to build my own. I've also make shifted a very simple shoebox system for my babies and yearlings which are around 200-1000gms. I had these wire shelf racks lying around my house from when I went with racks over tanks for some of my gex. Instead if having tank stands for all the tanks I put them in these shelf systems. Anyways they are like 50$ at any walmart. Most of the time you can get them with 3-8 shelves. So I measured out the height of the tubs that I was using for my little ones and set the shelves that distance apart so the tubs sit snug on the shelves. I wired in the flex watt in-between the rungs on the shelves and put heat insulation tape on the bottom of each shelf. Put the tubs on them hooked it up to a thermostat and whala a rack for the babies. Draw back you have to use the tops on the tubs. But since you have a few at the moment this could would work until you can save the $ or have time to build one. I'm in the process of starting a new youngster rack. Id Like one that will hold up to 100 youngsters. Aswell as one that works like my adults cb70 so I'm basing it on that. Babies won't do well In the cb70 bc it's just too big. Well hope it all works out for you.
Morgan

[SlitherinSisters]

I'd say build your own. To buy a rack to fit what you have is going to be way more than you need right now, and cost well over $100 possibly $200 depending on what you get. If you want to buy one, I would go with the racks from Reptile Basics. A friend of mine using those rack and freedom breeders. As for the thermostat, as long as you use the same watt/size of flexwatt you can use one thermostat.

As for making your own, you can make two shelves different heights if you need to. Here is a pic of mine when I was first working on it. It's not completed in this picture obviously, but you get the idea. It cost me about $30. Oh and trust me, you can do it. I had NO building/wiring/electrical/carpentry/etc skills before I had snakes. (The metal braces were to temporarily hold the shelves until I put the sides on)


I have moved the shelves up and down as needed to make room for larger tubs. It's really easy to move the shelves and make it exactly how you need to. This shelf is for hatchlings. I have a 10 shelf rack built for the adults, 42 qt tub, maybe 48, I can't remember. That one cost me $80 to make, excluding flexwatt, tubs, and thermostat.


Keep the tubs from rubbing on the flexwatt, those are composite window shims


I have a thread on how to wire flexwatt on here if you decide to do it yourself.

[frenchy]

Wow thank you so much feel way better now now I see how it I want it now to search for ur wiring thread

[jamesa2580]

I just recently picked up a 6 shelf economy rack (white) from Animal Plastics. I love this particular rack because it was pretty economical - like $225 with belly heat (3" flexwatt)
http://www.animalplastics.com/1754EP.htm

You have to assemble it, but it's real easy. They have the groove cut in the shelves to keep the flexwatt lower than the tub. My favorite part about this rack, though, is that you can use both 15qt tubs as well as 32 qt sterelite tubs. I have both adults and juveniles in the same rack. It's really nice. I will have to get another 41 quart rack for the females as they get up to breeding size, but for now, they are all fitting well.

I like a lot of the homemade racks and may venture to build one at some point, but this AP rack is serving me very well for now.

God luck!

[zina10]

I have a Rhino Raxx rack from Boaphile. Love everything about it. It holds 2 different type of tubs, so I can start hatchlings/juvies in smaller ones and move them into bigger tubs without needing a new rack.

It came with heat, everything wired and ready to plug into a thermostat, so very easy.

The flexwatt sits lower then the tubs, in a cutout. Therefor you don't have to slide the tubs over the flexwatt all the time, causing damage over time.

The rack isn't to heavy, is built solid, doesn't look to bad, and the materials are self-extinguishing.

It comes pre assembled. Shipping is in the price.

The only con, you might wait a while for it being built. I had mine within 3 weeks, but some have waited a bit longer. I recommend calling to see when they are building racks again and Jeff can give you an estimate.

It was easy and it fits my needs perfectly.

http://www.boaphileplastics.com/rhin...sterilite.html

I have the 5 drawer high one, its cheaper, but I linked you to the six drawer height one because it shows the combo of different tubs. You can get the 5 drawer one the same way, and you can choose how many of each tubs you want. If you later need more small or large tubs, you can find them at Target. He will ship all the dividers with the rack, even if you get all large tubs, so you can later change to some small tubs.

I love that thing

This is the one I have:

http://www.boaphileplastics.com/rhin...sterilite.html

I got it with 2 large tubs and 6 small tubs.

[SlitherinSisters]

Wow thank you so much feel way better now now I see how it I want it now to search for ur wiring thread

If you didn't find it yet, here it is http://ball-pythons.net/forums/showt...light=flexwatt

Those pictures were from the second time I ever wired it. It's super easy! And relatively inexpensive. You should have most of the tools. Soldering irons aren't very expensive and you don't need the ridiculously hot ones for this job. Another tip, I keep about 4 inches of the sides open where the flexwatt is so I can get in there and fix/move/check the flexwatt whenever I need to. I'm too lazy to cut out holes for the wires/flexwatt between the shelves. Putting the side on will squish the wires if you don't make cut-outs.