My newly constructed racks!

[Gloryhound]

Here are some pictures of my newly constructed racks. I keep getting better with each design. If I was home more often I would have a lot more built. Each of these racks took about 8 hours each to build.

first is a 1 wide by 10 high 41 qt rack. This sucker is heavy. All the shelves are 3/4" laminated shelf board. The sides are MDF board. If you look closely to make the shelves wide enough for these tubs I had to add a 1X2 to the edges. Each shelf is heated with a 12" X 11" piece of flex watt. A power strip is on the right hand side that you can't see that each level gets plugged into only when in use or under test. The cord for the level that has the herpstat probe on it is a different color from the rest so you know that is the one that has to always be plugged in. The back is also a solid piece of MDF. All the regular wood was painted before assembly then touched up afterwords to make sure everything was sealed good.



Next we have a simpler rack that is designed to hold 18 15qt tubs. The shelves and sides are made of Laminated shelving board. The stops in the back had to be specially spaced to allow the lip to slide over them and actually stop on the side of the tub. This makes sure the whole top is covered and made the shelves just the right depth to work. Each level has a 4" strip of flex in a belly heat configuration. Each level has its own plug that goes to a power strip on the side that you can see in the above photo. The level with the t-stat probe is again done in a different color (White) to make sure this level stays plugged in all the time. The pegs are color coded pink for females and blue for males.



I like these designs and hope to keep them as our standard. The regulate temps very well and hold humidity well.

[Beardedragon]

Great post! Could you get a shot of the 41q's side?

[Gloryhound]

Great post! Could you get a shot of the 41q's side?

I'm not home right now. (Stuck in Texas on a job for the next week or two.) I will see if my wife can get it for me and put it up when I get a chance. You can kinda see the side of the 41 qt through the 15 qt rack. I have simple surge protectors up as the power strip on the side of the 41 qt right now, but really want to get another strip like the one on my 15 qt later, but they are kinda expensive at $35 a pop, considering the whole rack has less than $200 in it right now and that includes the tubs, but not the T-stat! Can't really include it since I am using one herpstat pro to power both the 41 at and 15qt racks. The 15 qt rack only has about $150 in it with tubs. So you add up the herpstat Pro with both racks you have $670 tied into housing 28 snakes. Thats $24 per snake and the price will continue to drop as I build the second two racks for the herpstat. Then it will jump again when I add the on/off T-stat back ups on to each rack. Probably by the end it will be around $20 to $22 per snake. I plan on a 1X9 32 qt rack and a 2X10 6qt rack. Total capacity for this first set of stand alone racks 57 snakes. Total floor space occupide 70" X 36" or 6' by 3'.

[FloridaHogs]

Looks good! Have you considered using Screen swivel clips instead of pegs? To me they simplify the opening and closing of the tubs. Here is what I am talking about:

[frankykeno]

Ohhhh Jenea, those screen thingies are a great idea!

Nice job on the racks, Gloryhound, they look great!

[dsirkle]

Those racks look quite professional.

[Gloryhound]

Looks good! Have you considered using Screen swivel clips instead of pegs? To me they simplify the opening and closing of the tubs. Here is what I am talking about:

I actually did do something like that on another rack I built. The boss (wife) didn't like them! So I went to the pegs which my wife likes becouse she likes the pink for female, blue for male, and purple for love birds coloring. Other people may like them fine and it is a good idea.

[Gloryhound]

Those racks look quite professional.

Thanks! I wish they were that good. I could start looking at building racks as a new line of work then!