My First Rack!

[Argentra]

My handmade, custom rack is complete and occupied!

Here it is before the 'finishing touches'


Painted


And completed, hooked up and occupied


Close up of the tubs



I am quite happy with it. The girls, especially, seem to love the extra room since their QT tubs were really cramped for them.

[Gloryhound]

Good job! Always feels good to build something yourself. I didn't see what type of heat you put in? Is that contact paper that you used to cover the shelves? I never even thought about contact paper.

[Jerhart]

very nice! I love the shade for privacy! very clever!

[Argentra]

Thanks. My adult BPs are kinda skittish about being 'watched' when they eat, so I put in the shade so I could pull it down over each tub as I fed them.

The stuff covering the undersides of the shelves is plastic sheeting. I probably could have used contact paper, but the plastic seemed stronger. I used poly-based wood glue to attach it to the underside of the shelf, then secured the edges with staples on the other side...away from the snakes. The whole rack is painted with Rust-Oleum 'Gloss White' Latex base paint - moisture resistant.

[starmom]

That is awesome!!!!
I love that you chose the higher tubs and the 'privacy shade' is a great idea!!!!
Rock on girlfriend!!!

[Mike Cavanaugh]

looks great! did you get a little hole happy with the soldering gun???!!!

[Argentra]

LOL I sure did, mcavana. One thing I've had a nightmare with regarding tubs is humidity - always being too HIGH! So with these tubs I wasn't taking any chances and really did some holes. There are two levels on the sides. But so far it seems to be working!

Sorry I missed your heat question, Gloryhound. I'm using ZooMed UTH pads: 30-40 gal size for the warm sides and 10-20 gal size for the cool sides:


To plug that many pads into the Herpstat, I added two 3-outlet extenders to the stat plugs. Since the pads don't even scratch the surface of the 500w capacity, it's all good.

And thanks, Starmom! The girls adore the extra space from the higher tubs, and I'm pretty sure my het male likes it as well...but can't tell for sure since he's in shed right now and he's my brat snake anyway.

I'll be making a similar rack eventually for my other BPs, but will be adding a temporary false floor to each level to hold smaller tubs since the others are all youngsters or sub-adults.

[truthsdeceit]

How did you mount your zoomed pads?

[RichardA]

Very cool.

I had thought about making a large tall tub rack myself....seeing yours makes me really wanna do it......

[Argentra]

How did you mount your zoomed pads?

The pads are placed on a layer of cork board, which makes the surface even, and then adhered to the shelf with industrial strength double sided tape. With the runners on the shelves, the tubs never actually touch the pads, so they don't budge.

Tho, with the second rack I'll be making I intend to put the pads on strips of cork for better air circulation underneath.

Thanks, NightmareCreatures. It was actually pretty easy to make and looks nice. I put up a full DIY page with pictures on my website.