I have two racks. One I built myself and one I purchased from reptile basics. Purchasing from them was pleasureable and the rack has held up well for 2 years. The one I built myself I used hollow core doors and I am pleased with them. They are holding up well and are lightweight. I have seen plenty built out of melamine and noone has had any problems with fumes that I am aware of.



If you are a carpenter you should have no problem at all constructing your own, it's fairly easy. I have used back heat and belly heat. This depends more on your situation and ambient room temps. I would recommend keeping the room relatively warm and using the heat tape to suppliment. I'm not comfortable running the heat tape very hot and it's only recommended to run up to 95d F but will get much hotter if not on a rheostat.



The heat tape is easy to wire and doesn't require much electrical knowledge. I kept the part with the connections away from the tubs to ensure it wouldn't be around any moving parts.

There are some really good walkthroughs available for step by step construction. I believe I refered to rio bravo reptiles for a basic idea and modified it to my needs.



Hope this helps

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