Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I am working on a new rack system for boas and smaller pythons like bloods and black headeds and I am trying to figure out the perfect size for a tub that would make virtually everyone happy. (a near impossibility...lol)

At present I am leaning toward an injection molded tub that will be 40" long X 30" wide X 9.5 inches tall (same height as a doskocil #250).

The bottom of the tub/floorspace will be closer to 37" x 27".

I am thinking that this tub should work great for boas up to around 6 - 7 feet long.

I am hoping that the rack with tubs will be much lower priced than anything currently available and will hopefully make it easier for new people to get started breeding boas.

What do you guys and gals think about the potential size?

Sounds like a good size, but thats a big part to have injection molded.. I'd look into vacume forming or having doubles made with roto molding.
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Ed Lilley, www.constrictorsnw.com
www.reptileinsider.com

The reason I am going with injection molding is that an injection molded part is "perfect" every time. Almost no variation in size and all the tubs will nest precisely with each other and the cost to the customer will be reduced by about 50% and since we all hate paying a lot for tubs, injection molding is the only option.

We have a whole line of roto molded tubs that work great in a variety of applications, but they cost a fortune to mold which means we have to sell them at a little more than a fortune to stay in business.

Vacuum forming has a bunch of problems, not the least of which is wall thickness thinning in the corners and the fact that each tub comes out a slightly different size...plus, they cost a fortune.

You should see the injection molding machine necessary to shoot such a large tub...it is 50 feet long, 20 feet wide and about 12 feet tall. It is really something watching a 1200 ton machine push 15 pounds of molten plastic into a mold.

I bet it's a sight!, thats why I was recomending roto molding or vacume forming.. got to cost a fortune to get started. This must actualy be vision of vision products here...
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Ed Lilley, www.constrictorsnw.com
www.reptileinsider.com

sounds good, but I would go with a longer tub if possible maybe 44". I dont know if its possible but I would really love to see a 48" rack. Vinnie

I have to start somewhere.

If the 40" one works out well, I will certainly make larger ones on the next shot.

I have to pick the size that will be the most in demand, first and then follow up with more sizes later.

If we get up near 4 feet or more, we have to go roto molded and the price jumps quite a bit.

Thats cool. I think 40" will be great. I will be on line for those racks thats for sure. Vinnie

My thoughts are it is only good for males with those dimensions...
Most people would be more interested, and I only say that because I knew about this rack and this size a while ago...and alot of people that I had told about this rack were eager to get it until they heard the size....
This is just my 2 cents...but if you can make the rack 24" or even 26" inches wide....10" or 11" high, and 46" or 48" or 50" or even 52" long...I gave multiple sizes in case of patent rights on certain sizes. But if
these were sizes,we could have, I am sure you would have a number one seller. I think what most need in a sizable rack is a rack for their breeder females. Just my 2 cents... Andy Federico
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I think a 7' female would definitely need more room. On the other hand we all have some smaller males. Some say racks are not good for gravid females anyway (too much moving them around everytime you pull the tub out to open it), so maybe the size is already solved. I agree it might be good for males and smaller non-gravid females. If you made a bigger bin like 48" long and 24" wide, it would be plenty big for most boas. I recently bought a giant tub from reptiletubs.com (VE175 which is 53" X 21" X 14" high approximately) and it cost me more to ship it than to buy it, so you might want to find out what the shipping limitations are first too.

Good luck,
Caden