Reptile & Amphibian Forums

i decided it was easier and lighter not to put full sides on and i have yet to order my flex watt, but i built this rack which holds 20 boxes. its 15 inches deep, 3feet long and 2 feet high(these are off the top of my head). the boxes are o;d discontinued rubbermaids. they are about 3-4 inches tall 8 or so inches wide and i believe 13 inches long.
adam
i can get more accurate mearurments if anybody wants them
also here are some babies that are now in the rack

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hybrid breeders association
0.1. normal corn het hypo,anery
1.0. snow corn het hypo,anery,amel
1.0. amel corn unknown hets(4ft 8inch long)
1.0 sinacorn
1.1 kenyan sand boas
0.1 mbk
0.1 albino nelsons
0.2 normal leo geckos
1.0 blizzard leo gecko
0.0.1 snapping turtles
0.0.1 3 lined mud turtle

MarkG coined that term in a post a while back.

Thanks for posting the picture of your rack and showing just how simple a rack can be.

My only comment/concern is the use of solid pine for the side/back supports (it looks like that is what you used, at least on my monitor). Most of the solid pine sold nowadays is from young trees and the wood is milled while the wood is still fairly wet. This can lead to a rack that shrinks over time and the boxes start to seize. I learned this the hard way with the second batches of racks I built over 12 years ago now.

But all is not lost. You could have strips of 3/4" or maybe even 1/2" plywood cut for the sides and back. With the alternating grain in the plies and the significant surface area for glue plywood is very stable in the presence of climatic changes. Make sure to use a high quality plywood, however. Or you could even cut up another melamine shelf.

Or you can simply readjust the shelves as the wood shrinks. Reptile rooms tend to be fairly stable year round so the wood should reach some state of equilibrium. I did this with the already mentioned racks I built and they are still holding snakes today.

However, mine are adult racks and the gaps are about 1/8". For a hatchling rack I would still be concerned with the slight changes that can occur in solid wood, especially pine.
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Current snakes:

0.0.1 Gonyosoma oxycephala - Java locale (green)

2.2 Gonyosoma janseni - Seleyar locale (all black)

thanks for the heads up. they are pine and i didnt even think about shrinkage it was built for "lids on" but they fit better with lids off for some reason. ill keep an eye out for shrinkage and i will be building an adult rack soon also. what tubs do you feel are the best for corns and similiar sized milks and kings?
adam
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hybrid breeders association
0.1. normal corn het hypo,anery
1.0. snow corn het hypo,anery,amel
1.0. amel corn unknown hets(4ft 8inch long)
1.0 sinacorn
1.1 kenyan sand boas
0.1 mbk
0.1 albino nelsons
0.2 normal leo geckos
1.0 blizzard leo gecko
0.0.1 snapping turtles
0.0.1 3 lined mud turtle

I am the founder of the "Pine boards are bad" Club and Chris and Jeremy are the technical advisors.

For racks requiring tight tolerances (e.g. baby racks) you would do better to use particleboard, melamine or plywood planks as the side supports instead of the solid pine you are using. I know it is a pain because you need to cut the pieces, but the end result is a much more tolerance-friendly rack.
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Mark G
Montane snakes are the coolest...