Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Chris, I'm looking at a few commercial 12-15 slot Shoe box racks to get one for use for quarantine when I get the occassional hatchlings. Cool Critters/PVC cages makes a nice black one with back heat( I like the black to help nervous snakes feel more hidden).PM Herps has a white one with slots for heat tape you feed through the shelves and a slightly cheaper model with back heat also. Prices are about equal and both seem reputable. I've never heated with back heat. Do you have any experience/opinions? Thanks.
Bob.

Nope, never seen either one in person.

How many tubs per shelf does each rack hold? In other words, how many tubs wide?

Cool Critters used 3/16" PVCX which is a bit more sag-resistant, but I'd still be concerned about a hatchling rack that was more than a few tubs wide.

PM Herps is selling one of Doug Barr's racks which I assume uses that hollow shelf design? That should not flex much.
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Current snakes:

0.0.1 Gonyosoma oxycephala - Java locale (green)

2.2 Gonyosoma janseni - Seleyar locale (all black)

Thanks Chris. Both hold no more than 3 or 4 boxes. Mostly I'm concerned with the heat tape issues. I have never used back heat before only belly heat and now the racks I have are heat rope like your Vision rack and working out great. I appreciate your help as always. Thanks.
Bob.

Hope you don't mind me sharing my experience with back heat since you directed the question to Chris.
My racks are in a large open room and only a few feet from a sliding glass door. Ceramic tile floor also. The room is cold. Really nice during the summer but it can be a bit cool during the winter. I had a stack of plastic racks, 3 units with 3 shelves each with 2 11 inch strips of flexwatt for back heat. I placed them on a 3/4 inch thick platform with rubber feet so they would not lose heat through the cold floor. It wasn't enough. I then tried wrapping ensolite backpacking pads around the sides and back. This helped but my evening temp drops were too much. That's when I switched to the 2 inch rigid insulation available at Home Depot and Lowes. Issue resolved. I have no plans of using back heat ever again.
I did get a hatchling rack late last year. It's the AP unit with 9 shelves, 3 shoe boxes per shelf. Uses the heat cable and it works awesome. The fit is exactly what you need for hatchlings. I have no concerns about my smallest hatchlings getting out. Western hognose are not much longer than a red worm and about as thick as a night crawler.

Thanks John. I have two AP racks now with the heat cable.(haven't had time to put together the 5 slot CB110 yet)I like the AP racks alot. Someday I may go for a full size rack from them for hatchlings( wish they made a 3 shelf one) but for now I was just looking for the same thing but something small (12 boxes) to keep upstairs away from the rest of the collection in the basement during quarantine. My basement is on the cool side in winter and the AP racks with the heat cable work great.
Bob

your time. I always appreciate the help from the folks on this site. I just called AP and they said they could just make a 3 shelf version of their Sterlite hatchling rack(9 boxes) for me with the heat cable I like for only $99.00! EXACTLY what I was looking for.
Thanks again, Bob

..........to consider white plastic for the rack,it's almost impossible to see a mite (or other critters) on black.have fun!

Does $99.00 include the heat cable in the shelf? If so, that seems like an incredible price to me. I have been in the market for a similar sized rack and that seems like quite a deal.

Rob

>>your time. I always appreciate the help from the folks on this site. I just called AP and they said they could just make a 3 shelf version of their Sterlite hatchling rack(9 boxes) for me with the heat cable I like for only $99.00! EXACTLY what I was looking for.
>> Thanks again, Bob

I thought so too Rob. Yes it does include the heat cable. I thought it would be nice to have a small quarantine rack for several reasons.One of them being that occassionaly you go to a Herp show and find some unexpected gem you have to get,even though I am presently keeping fewer animals some times my resolve lessens. I'm getting some more animals from some friends in the fall to augment my bloodlines for the future and this should keep things nice, neat and orderly.
Bob