Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Alright, so I'm looking to get back into Rhac's full force with a rack and the works. I'm most likely going to pick up a rack from ACR and was wondering what was the best route in terms of substrate? I was considering paper towls, as they are easy to clean and available at my expense. I just wanted to see what your thoughts were on this!

i prefer using eco-earth or bed-a-beast for any geckos that are more than a couple months old ( over 6-8 grams) i like the humidity rentention, and i think it is easier to clean by scooping poop rather than removing everything in the cage to change paper towels.
here are a few photos of racks that i made.
i like them because they have very good visibility along the whole top of the bins, and they air out better than similar designs
here's the 20 qt. one that i keep single adults in

there's room for 3 more bins on the bottom, they're just not in the photo

here's the same design but for small kritter keepers


i don't have a full front shot of the smaller one at the moment. if you have any questions about it let me know

Nice Racks!! I am now designing something since the "vision" racks aren't what I will need for my adult groups of Cresteds or any other arboreal geckos of mine.

Any Advice??

I have a local guy that does acrylic and I am debating on asking him to cut me some sheets for tops instead of screen but if I do go with screen I will contact you. ((I am almost 100% sure that you are the person that I bought my last batch of screen from.... If I am wrong, sorry)))..

Thanks Erik
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Erik Strait
www.EriksReptiles.com
Email- Erik@EriksReptiles.com

I keep and breed all kinds of crested morphs, Henkeli leaf-tail geckos, Mossy leaf-tail geckos, Lined leaf-tail geckos, and ball python morphs!

erik, i was the one who sold you the screen so you are correct there.
as for building LARGE type racks ( for like 60 qt. sterilite), i've given that one some thought and decided how i would do it. i would purchase a pre-built, or assemble yourself metal shelf with height adjustable levels.
then i would fix a single screen top piece to the corners of the shelf so it is about 3-4 inches below the bottom of the shelf above it.
the screen piece would be made just like the screen part of my racks, only without the slider pieces. all of the weight is supported on the shelf this way, but you still get a top with good ventilation.
you may even be able to get away with supporting the screen assembly by little pins just drilled into the sides of the supports ( like most entertainment centers have adjustable glass shelves that just rest on the dowels)
i haven't tried it myself, but plan to make 4-6 more of the small racks for myself this year, and then some larger ones as well.

i recommend not using metal shelves..if they are anything like the set of metal shelves i bou ght for my snakes..they are a real real pain to assemble and the shelves are n ot really that adjustable...the cross piece attached in the back to keep the whole thing from collapsing [ie swaying to the left or right] pretty much makes it necessary to have one shelf in one exact position, to attached the cross point of the back support to. the metal itself is so thin, it is very hard to hold anything together while starting to build the shelf. you pretty much need two people, one to hold the verticle posts up while you attached the shelves. you are also working in a very tight area with sharp edges to screw in each bolt. not fun at all.i personally feel the extra expense of wood is much more worth it in the long run.
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PHLdyPayne

Have any of you guys used Anthony Caponetto's racks? I'm looking to get his small size because it seems attractive and functional. For my larger breeders, I'm going to build a rack similar to the one posted above. 20qt seems sufficient!

flamed: do you have aim? IM me if you do---THe Bled M3

Hey, I use the "Baby" racks from AC. I really like em!!

But for my breeding groups (1.2) I am going to use a 22.75 gallon tub from Container store. I am still coming up with some ways to make it though!

PS: Flame, Did you happen to take step by step pictures of that rack that you built??

Thanks Erik
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Erik Strait
www.EriksReptiles.com
Email- Erik@EriksReptiles.com

I keep and breed all kinds of crested morphs, Henkeli leaf-tail geckos, Mossy leaf-tail geckos, Lined leaf-tail geckos, and ball python morphs!

hey erik, i don't have photos.
basically i made the top layer which consists of the 3 sections, then tacked screen on the bottom
then i cut the slider pieces which are the sides, middle, and back pieces and screwed those to the screen part ( covering the staples)
that's all you need for the bins, everything else you can just build around each shelf unit that basically just sets on a piece, and screws to it.
if you look at my photos you will see what i'm talking about.
just be sure to mount the screen to you can crease it up the front of the cage and put a trim piece over it. if you look real close you can see the screen coming up the front and going under the trim piece. this will make your clearance/gap absolutely nothing with the bin top actually in contact with the screen.