Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Here's the weekend project my husband and I just finished.
It's a new rack for our snake room. It houses two Iris VE175 tubs from Reptiletubs.com and will have a 5x2x2 homebuilt cage (which we got when we adopted our BCCs) that sits on the top.

The two tubs hang in 2x4 frames. There are support tabs on the rim of the lids that support it very nicely. Each frame has rail slides on it, and can be pulled out of the main stand just like drawers.

We still have to move the big cage (probably tomorrow), so I'll have to take more photos when the whole setup is all ready. I can provide dimensions for anyone who is interested in doing something similar. You could probably build a tall rack that could house probably 5 of these tubs, they are big enough each for an adult boa.

Photos (my new kitten got in a few shots):

Front view-

Front view, top drawer pulled out-

Side view, top drawer pulled out -

Side view-

One side looking down-

Diagonal view-

Detail of front of drawer-

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Lauren Madar
www.ophidiagems.com
1.1 Hog Island Boas
1.1 Hypo BCI
0.1 Sorong-type GTP
1.0 Normal Ball Python
1.1 Surinam BCC

I would love to get more information on this rack. It would fit my needs perfect. Todd

I will type up the dimensions this evening. You will probably have to adjust things a little bit depending on what kind of drawer slides you use (for clearance between the main leg supports).

Tools needed are: Circular saw, electric drill (with a small drill bit for pilot holes and a screwdriver bit), quite a few 2x4s (we are remodeling our kitchen so we have plenty of extra, not certain how many we used), one set of drawer slides for each drawer, 3" screws. I also used one 1x3" firring strip on the bottom front (one 2x4 leg was a little warped outward at the bottom, so needed a crossbrace to bring it back in so the drawer wouldn't fall off the slide support on one side).

The good thing about this stand was that we prebuilt most of the parts in our garage and then assembled the components in the snake room (which is down a VERY narrow hallway, so we are limited in the size of things we can fit in it). Construction took most of one day, and some adjustments after assembly took a couple of hours to make sure the drawers weren't too tight or loose.
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Lauren Madar
www.ophidiagems.com
1.1 Hog Island Boas
1.1 Hypo BCI
0.1 Sorong-type GTP
1.0 Normal Ball Python
1.1 Surinam BCC

I am thinking of making one wihtout using lids. I think i will try to make shelfs below one be the lid to the tub below it. I had planed on using sliders and I like how you did it. They are real nice.
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1.1 Motley het butter corns
0.1 Snow corn
0.1 Okeetee corn
1.0 Anery mutt corn
0.1 Stripe Ghost corn
0.1 Amelanistic corn het carmel
2.1 Colombian Redtails
1.0 Hypo Colombian redtail
1.0 Brazilian Rainbow Boa
1.0 Anery Kenyan sand boa
0.1 Normal Kenyan sand boa

Thanks. I saw another rack that I believe ReptileTubs created as a prototype - the problem with these tubs and having a traditional "shelf" rack is that the tubs are SOOO long and cumbersome when you try to pull them out - and they are not exactly easy to handle if you have to hold them (with a snake and water dish in it) yourself. The prototype I saw was set up to have the tubs put all the way in (so the rack would be 54" deep or whatever) and 20" wide at the front opening. That's a lot of tub to handle when you pull it most of the way out and have to reach in.

So the drawer slides supporting the tub seemed like a good idea so you wouldn't have to wrestle with the tub. We'll see how the rack works when I actually put snakes in it (hopefully this weekend).
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Lauren Madar
www.ophidiagems.com
1.1 Hog Island Boas
1.1 Hypo BCI
0.1 Sorong-type GTP
1.0 Normal Ball Python
1.1 Surinam BCC

I really like the idea. The only thing I would have done differently is use heavier duty drawer slides.