Help setting up rack

[bogey]

So im new to racks and everyone has been grate however i still have a few more questions. 1 i know to place the probe on the flexwatt however with what.2 I bought the rack used and there are no holes in the tubs, will the snakes have enough air to breath and what about air flow?

[The Serpent Merchant]

I attach my probes with hot glue. Apply hot glue to the cord and not the probe itself. You can do the same with tape. Do not use aluminum (foil) tape as it will mess with the thermostats readings.

Your snakes will be able to breathe, the tubs aren't air tight.

Holes in the tub are used to adjust the humidity in the tub.

More holes = less humidity
Less holes = more humidity

[kitedemon]

I would suggest that a few holes at least are needed the only person i have ever seen not used holes ended up having many of the snakes come down with RI. As it is exacerbated by poor air flow it may be surmised that the poor ventilation is partially to blame.

http://ball-pythons.net/forums/showt...ons-The-Basics

[Brion99]

I'm about to get my first rack on Tuesday and I was wondering what to for hides. Both snakes are going to be getting upgrades in size hides, but my prob is that if I try to cram in 2 hides plus a water dish (if I even can) there will be zero room in there. Should I just go with one hide, and if so, where to put it?

I also saw where Serp Mercht said not to use foil tape...I've been using it my heatpad and it been fine...prob with flexwatt?

[bogey]

From what i understand you only need one hide in a rack and some say thats not even needed however im also new to racks.Also the probe thing is also driving me nuts, Anyways thanks to all for the info ive learned alot by listing to you all

[kitedemon]

I place my probe on the middle span of the flexwatt and in the middle slot of the rack. The probe MUST not move! I also hot melt mine and cover it with electrical tape. It must be firmly fixed and unmoving. I would highly recommend a fail safe to protect against the possibility of the probe being pulled free. It attach the fail safe on the top slot of the rack on the flexwatt. It is set 10º over the temp set on the primary.

[Brion99]

I place my probe on the middle span of the flexwatt and in the middle slot of the rack. The probe MUST not move! I also hot melt mine and cover it with electrical tape. It must be firmly fixed and unmoving. I would highly recommend a fail safe to protect against the possibility of the probe being pulled free. It attach the fail safe on the top slot of the rack on the flexwatt. It is set 10º over the temp set on the primary.

Well I'll be using a different thermostat for maybe the first month, until the dust settles from my upcoming move (gotta be sure I have enough $$ for that) then I'm grabbing a VE-3000 x2 ASAP and will switch the current one to be my backup, but my question is whether tape (and what kind should I use....have foil) will be okay temporarly....don't wanna glue down something I'm going to move soon? And is there anything to this foil tape screwin up readings....I never heard that before??

[Slim]

Don't use foil tape on the flex watt. Regular electrical tape works just fine. Personally I don't hot glue my probe to the flex watt.

My racks uses 32 qt IRIS Sweater Boxes, and I have no trouble fitting two medium RBI hides and a 4 inch ceramic water bowl.

They don't need a ton of room to roam, and mine will cruise on top of the hides at times. The tops of the hides are flat, so it's like having elevated floor space.

[kitedemon]

Yes foil tape screws up the probe response. It leads to incorrect readings and higher variation in the rack. It also can cause the flexwatt to buzz that can get seriously annoying. I use eletrical tape and in some places foil over that. (high wear areas)

"Do not cover the probe tip with aluminum tape. This will cause false readings and poor regulation. " from the herpstat manual.

Personally I would suggest the herpstat 2 over the VE mostly for the 'soft heat' and 'safety relay' they have built in that protects against internal failure and flexwatt failure.

The relay minimizes the need for a fail safe as it will kill the power to the heater if the probe reports higher (user settable range) OR most important if the probe goes cooler (user settable range) I have mine set to kill the power if the hot side probe gets 8º below the set point (92º) so at 84º (the warmest the ambient room temp ever is) the power shuts down completely. If the probe is pulled free by moving the tub in and out and say pushed out the back of the rack the T-stat normally will try to heat the probe to 90 again and in the process cook the snakes. With this feature the probe reports a dramatic drop in temp and the unit signals an alarm and the power shuts down to the flexwatt and the snakes are left at the ambient (cool) side temps, with a beeping alarm.

They are only 1¢ apart in price no safety relay and a need real and true need for a failsafe against a maybe a failsafe and a perhaps you don't need one moment, as it is built in already. Just a comment.

[Brion99]

Thx a lot guys. I'll go with the electrical tape for now (while making damn sure it's firmly in place), and after looking a bit that's a good point on the Herpstat, and I'll be going with that instead.

With the hides, I'm getting 6 16" long tubs and have 8" flowerpot hides (didn't have the 6"), so you can see my dilemma. Any help is appreciated.