Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I finished my homemade rack over the weekend and put it into service on Tuesday. The snakes seem to love the extra room compared to the sweater boxes they were in. This rack consists of Vision Tubs (V-70), 3" heat tape, 2x2's and 2x3's along with tile board and 2" casters from Home Depot.

This project took the whole weekend and the longest and hardest part was using a router to notch the grooves in the 2x3's. I was even able to make the heat panels with some metal drywall beams from Lowe's.It was certainly worth the effort, and I'm sure when the time comes, I will use this design again. I do have enough room for 2 more levels to be added to the top of this rack.

If anyone is interested in any of the details, feel free to drop me a line. Thanks for the help and suggestions.

Steve Townsend

Nice job. I saw something similar they used screen instead of the tile board

Great Job! This looks awesome.

A couple of questions?
Are you worried about humidity damaging the tile board? I assume the peg board is made from MDF?

For heating did you insulate the flex under the metal or just tape it up?

Why Vision tubs and not Sterlite, Rubbermaid etc..something cheaper?

Again great job.

I think that came out great, the metal framing stud for the heat tape is a great idea. I would make that the front of the rack. I like that the snakes would be sitting on the heat up front where you can see them. I am definitely buying a router before I build anything else in my life! Did that take a few progressive passes with the router or could you cut that deep in one pass?
Good job!

For you peopel who are good with your hands and building things this is a great idea,but me myself I am not good at building thingsdont have time anyway , and I love the vision ball rack due to the fact that it is made of very strong but light material and can be transported very easily when needed,so I rather shell at the few extra bucks for these reasons and a few more , enjoy your homemade rack and it looks great.

Very nice,
I'm thinking to build one for my collection.

Gai.
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1.1 Albino Sonoran Gopher
2.0 W.C. Sonoran Gopher
1.1 Red Bull Snake
1.1 San Diego Gophers (het albino applegate)
2.2 Leucistic Texas ratsnake
1.1 "White Oak" ratsnake
2.3 W.C Okeetee Corn
1.2 Abbt line Okeetee Corn
1.0 Reverse Okeetee Corn
0.1 Creamsicle Corn
1.2 W.C Miami Phase Corn
1.1 Sinaloan Milk
1.0 Albino Honduran Milk
1.1 W.C Mexican Black King
0.2 C.B Mexican Black King
2.0 W.C Cal King
1.1 C.B Cal King
0.1 Durango Mountain King
1.0 Desert King
1.3 Northern pine
1.1 N.J White pine
3.5 Black pine
1.2 kankakee Bull
2.3 Bearded Dragon
0.0.40 Red Eye Tree frogs
7 Tanks full with African Cichlids.
Many Mice, Rats and feeder Roaches

Thank for the reviews.

Sorry it took a few days to respond but I don't get much computer time lately. I will try to answer some of the questions a few of you had.

I too was a little concerned about the humidity, but I will just have to wait and see how it holds up.

The heat tape is stuck right onto the metal beam with silicone.

The tubs were the most expensive item for this rack ($11 each), but I figured they would last for a long time and I can also use them in my Freedom Breeder as well as this home made rack.

As for the router usage:
The bit cut was 1/2" wide so that was fine, but to go the 3/4" deep I had to make 4 passes on each grove on every 2x3. I an effort not to ruin the bit I could only take out 3/16" at a time. This was VERY TIME CONSUMING but the only way I could think of to get it done with the resources available to me.

I thought about the tape up front, but prefer the snakes in the back, especially at feeding time. Some of my snakes still meet me when I slide open the cage at feeding time.

I too like the Freedom Breeder. I also like the caging that I saw at Daytona from ARS. I'm not sure which I will get next. I currently own Freedom Breeder but what I liked about ARS was that it looked like it would be better for retainning humidity, and they also have these magnetic strips which can be added to keep even more of the humidity. I think the were less money that the Freedom Breeder too. Since seeing this I have made some of my own custom pieces to work with my Freedom Breeder and that seems to do fine. I plan on moving and needed something less expensive for now ($520 including 2 more levels to be added). The tubs and heat tape were $360. by themselves. Once I get my new place and see what kind of room I have then I will evaluate what I need.

This rack saved me over $1700. comapared to buying 8 levels from someone else.

Sorry for the long post, but I guess thats what happens when I don't check back here for a few days.

Thanks and happy herping!

I've seen some PLENTY of homemade stuff in my time, hardly any of which warrants any comment. However, this is VERY impressive work Steve. That'll work very well for you. The only thing I'd suggest is to put some ventilation holes, in your 'tops' (can't tell if that's MDF, formica, etc.)at least near the front. If you don't, you'll end up with mold in your tubs and your wood will start to rot (compressed wood water = bad news).
Great work though, I'm impressed!
Jason
Jason's Jungle