I already responded to this post earlier, and I know they deleted it because of the link, so sorry if this post isn't as good as the first. I know it seems like you've already made up your mind about not using these shelves, but I figured I'd give you some more concrete reasons on really not to use them.

I have to disagree with JTrott... Tosha's right, they are not study, and in fact very flimsy. I catch myself re-examining these pre-made plastic shelves all the time when I go to WalMart or Target, cuz you're right. I mean, look at them!! They'd be so practical and cheap and space saving. In reality, I guess they really could be used if you tried hard enough or maybe had some ingenuity, but I'd never use them, and here's why:

Next time you have your hands on one, pull out the bin about halfway and reach your hand up to the ceiling of that bin and feel around. There are gapping holes where the top of the bin should be touching the the shelf, and I've seen a crafty ball python get through much smaller. The bottom of each shelf (or what your ball would be looking at if it looks up) has all kinds of squares and indents and crap -- places that it can harm itself as far as I'm concerned, and more importantly makes me believe that these things would not hold a speck of humidity because of all that external air flow that is accessible to the inside of the bins. Additionally, if you stack them up high enough, maybe about the height of your waist, and you press on the side of them with your finger, it WILL lean.

One of my snakes escaped one day and I found it in the tubing on one of these type of shelf-things I used for storage in the kitchen (the supportive structure is hollow). It took Frank using a saw and me freaking out the entire time to get him out.

Yeah, all this stuff not worth it to me.

You need a rack, and IMO, your stuck with the terrarium until you can afford a nice Boaphile one or RhinoRaxx one. Trust me, it's worth the wait and you don't want to spend money on something crappy that's not really good for your snakes... than it ends up being a waist of money in the end. You could always pick the rack you like and house them in the tubs with heat tape for now, then buy the rack that suits the tubs later.

I built my last two racks. It's much cheaper than buying them in the long run... maybe you can borrow the tools from someone?

Hope this helps! PM me if you have nay questions at all!!
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Cheers!
• Chelsea Lynn Gardiner
(and Frank M. Wood)

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