I have always tried to collect info over the years on others’ do-it-yourself racks and cages b/c I knew the day would eventually come when I would try these projects. Anyway, I recently moved and now have plenty of room to work with for making my own racks and cages. BUT I have some questions as I sit and plan and design...



I really want a natural, wood-look for a rack system, so I was going to use 1/2 inch ply (vs. 3/4 inch pure, bright-white melamine). So...if I stain and seal the wood on the racks, how can I safely use flexwatt heat tape for belly heat? Is there anyway to safely run flexwatt on natural wood? What about if the wood has been poly'd/sealed? I want to be as simple in design as possible...in otherwords, I don't want to have to router grooves or anything, even though I have the tools...it would probably be a pain and I would still have the question about safety if heat tape is in direct contact with the wood.



2nd Q - what type of polyurethane/sealant can be used? I never took note of what others have successfully used. Also, I will probably only go to home depot/lowes for most materials.



My first rack I'll attempt will be for colubrids and I realize that they don't necessarily need belly heat BUT I plan to build another 2 racks for boas and pythons and I'd like to keep the design the same. If there is no way to run heat tape w/thermostat on wood shelves then I may have no other choice but to use back heat, which I don’t want to do.



Advice, comments, suggestions are all welcome…
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Sincerely, Jason

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My Website: www.members.aol.com/northeastsnakes

My collection...

BOAS: 0.1 Solomon Island Ground Boa, 1.1 Brazilian Rainbow Boas, 1.1 Argentine Boas, 2.2 Nicaraguans, 1.1 Sonoran Desert Boas, 1.1 Cay Caulkers, 1.0 Columbian Boa 100% het Kahl Albino, 0.1 Anery Col boa, 1.1 Hog Island Boas, 0.1 Hog Island Boa poss het patternless.

PYTHONS: 1.2 Green Tree Pythons, 2.2 Bismarck Ringed Pythons, 2.8 Normal Ball Pythons, 1.0 Ball Python 100% het Piebald, 1.1 Spotted Pythons.

COLUBRIDS: 1.1 Black Pines, 1.1 Northern Pines, 2.2 Bairds Ratsnakes, 1.2 White-sided Black Ratsnakes.

CORNS: 1.0 Blizzard, 1.2 Bloodreds, 1.2 Butters, 1.0 Ghost, 0.1 Sunglow, 1.0 Hypo het Amber, 1.1 Lavenders, 1.1 Miami Phases, 1.2 Reverse Okeetee, 0.1 Snow, 0.1 Striped Amel, 3.2 Okeetees.

OTHER: 0.0.3 N. Diamondback Terrapins.

[ Hide Replies ]

• Natural wood rack....heating questions... - carl3, Sat Dec 11 23:09:08 2004
• RE: Natural wood rack....heating questions... - jasonmattes, Sat Dec 11 23:50:09 2004
• RE: Natural wood rack....heating questions... - chris_harper2, Sun Dec 12 09:59:45 2004
• RE: bullnose oak melamine ?.... - carl3, Sun Dec 12 12:34:07 2004
• RE: bullnose oak melamine ?.... - chris_harper2, Sun Dec 12 13:15:42 2004
• RE: what about lowes... - carl3, Sun Dec 12 14:28:21 2004
• RE: what about lowes... - chris_harper2, Sun Dec 12 14:57:05 2004
• RE: bullnose oak melamine ?.... - justcage, Sun Dec 12 21:05:44 2004
• thanks... and it only cost $40.... - chris_harper2, Mon Dec 13 09:17:05 2004
• did i read that right? - twh, Mon Dec 13 18:40:35 2004