Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Well after playing with the idea of using plastic for my new adult / sub adult racks, I have found out some interesting info.

Plastic is expensive, best prices I've found locally are:

PVCX 3/8" 4x8 sheet - $126

PVC 1/4" 4x8 sheet - $114.88 Not indicated as foam core, may be solid
ABS 1/4" 4x8 sheet - $79.04

Melamine 3/4" 4x8 sheet - $26.90

Playing with the design and going modular to best utilize the 4x8 sheets I came up with the following designs:

CB39 tub lidless racks-

Plastic = 1-8 slot and 1-4 slot = 72" (no riser or wheeled base) 12 total slots
Melamine = 1-3 slot and 2-4 slot = 73 1/4" (includes a 3 inch riser) 11 total slots

CB110 tub lidless racks-

Plastic = 1-7 slot and 1-4 slot = 75" (no riser or wheeled base) 11 total slots
Melamine = 1-3 slot with riser, 1-4 slot and 1-3 slot = 75 1/4" (includes a 3 inch riser) 10 total slots

Both plans (plastic / melamine) would require 9 sheets of material to build the rack. Actually with some ideas from Chris, I think I'd need another sheet for the plastic rack.

Bottom line not including tubs or heat tape:

Plastic, 12 CB39 slots and 11 CB110 slots = $790.40 or $34.36 per slot.
Melamine, 11 CB39 slots and 10 CB110 slots = $280 (including edge banding) or $13.33 per slot.

Pros/cons:

Plastic - coolness factor is high, no worry about moisture, get a couple extra slots. Would take more machining and many more pieces to assemble. Would need to solvent weld hundreds of pieces together or go with thicker more expensive material. Also have a shop nearby that has CNC capabilities and supposedly don't charge a lot for the service. Definitely more expensive.

Melamine, - Still would look great, two less slots for the pair of racks. Heavier so would be making more modules to create stack. Significantly cheaper and I already have all the experience I need to mill the stock and cut the recesses for flexwatt.

HMMMMMMMM, still leaning towards the melamine.
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Thanks,

Dave "Rainbows-R-Us"

0.1 Wife (WC)
0.2 kids (CBB)
4.12 Brazilian Rainbow Boa
2.1 Hypomelanistic BRB
0.1 Het for Hypomelanistic BRB
0.1 BCI "Elvira" normal from 1989
1.0 BCI albino / het-anery
0.1 BCI Hypo / het-albino
0.1 BCI Anery / het-albino
0.1 BCI Hypo (possible super)
1.0 BCI albino het stripe
1.0 BCI salmon hypo
0.1 BCI ghost

lots.lots.lots feeder mice and rats

if it were me i would deffinately go with the melamine. although plastic is cool and has some benifits, to me the two slots are the only real downfall to the melamine. the way i look at it is this ... how much do you actually move things around? and at that much difference in price.. say you get a new house, just build another one and throw the other out or sell it. you still would not spend as much as you would for plastic. good luck with the choices and post some pics of the results.
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- Jason F.

i'm leaning towards melamine also,i think people make too much of an issue with weight,once it's in place and has wheels what's the big deal?

i'l still toying with buying a plastic hatchling rack or making one out of melamine (built around sterilite 4qt. tubs).after reading your post last night i thought "hybrid".how about 1/4" plastic frame and spacers and 1/2" melamine shelfs? any thoughts.

I can't remember who it was but they built a rack with solid melamine shelves and tileboard sides. I like that idea, although it is not practical for my application.
Jeremy
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"I am become death, the destroyer of worlds" July 16, 1945 Robert Oppenheimer

1.1 Double Het "Sharp" Snow RTB's -Coming Soon-
0.1 Albino RTB -Coming Soon-
1.1 Hypomelenistic RTB's
0.2 Pastel Hypo RTB's -Coming Soon-
2.0 Double Het Stripe Albino RTB's
0.1 Suriname RTB
0.1 Anerthrystic RTB
1.0 Ball Python
1.1 Rhinoceros Iguana's
1.0 Green Iguana
1.1 Cream Golden Retrieviers
1.0 Pomeriaian
0.3 Catus Terribilis
0.1 Spouse

I bought them at meijers. Nice containers the only 4 qts I have seen are at meijers.
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thanks Josh

0.0.2 sandfish skinks,
0.0.1 texas long nose luckily eating mice
0.0.1 vine snake
1.1.0 turtles
0.1.0 greek tortoise
1.0.0 ball python
1.0.0 corn snake
1.1.0 childrens python (one needs a vet please close to 48301 or 48302 any suggestions?)
1.0.0 het for albino san diego gopher snake
0.0.1 rosehair tarantula
0.1. black and white kenyan sand boa
mice colony almost able to keep up with snakes.
and what ever lizards my vine snake hasn't eaten yet

I would also lean towards melamine. To address a couple of your concerns...

1) Melamine is more than moisture-resistant enough for a rack, even one holding Rainbow Boas. I have kept Tree Vipers in melamine racks and not had problems. I even had a screened over hole in the tub where I could insert a misting nozzle and let it run for several minutes per week. Still no trouble.

You could always coat the melamine with vinyl film.

2) The weight difference won't be nearly as much as you think. Build your racks with melamine shelves and 1/2" plywood sides. You'll save a considerable amount of weight. Also with melamine you don't need your sides to go all the way to the front. You could buy 5x5 baltic birch, rip it in half and use that for your sides. The melamine will have more than enough support.

That rack I posted in my reply to you the other day had a combination of plywood and melamine shelves and had little side support. The shelves never sagged.

In general, regarding melamine vs. plastic, the differences are not all that great when it comes to racks. Much more significant in cages.
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Current snakes:

0.0.1 Gonyosoma oxycephala - Java locale (green)

2.2 Gonyosoma janseni - Seleyar locale (all black)

>>2) The weight difference won't be nearly as much as you think. Build your racks with melamine shelves and 1/2" plywood sides. You'll save a considerable amount of weight. Also with melamine you don't need your sides to go all the way to the front. You could buy 5x5 baltic birch, rip it in half and use that for your sides. The melamine will have more than enough support.

Like I said in my other post you could do the same thing but swap the ply for tileboard you may still want something on the back but the tileboard will support the other 4 movements.

You could even staple refextic on the back every few inches I found in a previous rack this gave immense lateral support behind the rack as well as insulation.

Just an idea
Jeremy
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"I am become death, the destroyer of worlds" July 16, 1945 Robert Oppenheimer

1.1 Double Het "Sharp" Snow RTB's -Coming Soon-
0.1 Albino RTB -Coming Soon-
1.1 Hypomelenistic RTB's
0.2 Pastel Hypo RTB's -Coming Soon-
2.0 Double Het Stripe Albino RTB's
0.1 Suriname RTB
0.1 Anerthrystic RTB
1.0 Ball Python
1.1 Rhinoceros Iguana's
1.0 Green Iguana
1.1 Cream Golden Retrieviers
1.0 Pomeriaian
0.3 Catus Terribilis
0.1 Spouse

How large of a tub can you go with using the malamine shelves? I like the idea becaus it cuts down on the labor. I have small ball pythons and want to be able to house them into adulthood.

You can use just about any sized box you might imagine using for a ball python. The huge box from Iris might be a bit difficult, but I assume nobody would use that for BP's.
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Current snakes:

0.0.1 Gonyosoma oxycephala - Java locale (green)

2.2 Gonyosoma janseni - Seleyar locale (all black)