Reptile & Amphibian Forums

When building a rack does it matter if the tubs fit length wise or width?

A simple answer is no. What's most important is that the snake can't escape and you provide a temperature gradient in most cases.

With that being said I built a rack where they fit in long ways. If I build anpther I may build it so they fit in so when i pull the tub out partially I have access to more of the tub w/o having to pull the tub almost all the way out. It will make spot cleaning a little easier I think.

Either way will work fine.

No

If they fit lengthwise you can't fit as many in the same wall space. You also my need to be a little more creative with a heat source.

But you do get increased visibility.

Personally I think that racks are only needed if space and efficiency are your only concerns. If you have the space for lengthwise racks, and a strong desire to actually see you snakes, then you probably want a different type of cage.

Thanks for the imput, by the way the tan colored stacked cage set up you have going. How did you make that? Kinda looks like you purchased a normal shelf system and slaped doors on it? looks great!

I basically did just build a bookshelf and slap doors on it.

Each cage measure 31 long x 16 deep x 8 high. The doors are plexi glass. They are heated with a peice of flexwatt sandwiched between two ceramic tiles within each cage.

Here is a cloce up pic. Since I built them I replaced the bedding dam (was just a thick bead of silicone) with a 2 inch high piece of plexi glass.

I think it matters a little bit.

Assuming a basic design with one tub per shelf a rack where the tubs slide in width-wise will use less material and be lighter, although not by a significant amount.

Aside from that assumption, I have also found that by having a large tub slide in width-wise one has more options for having two or more smaller tubs on the same level that slide in length-wise. One poster on this forum uses a design where each level can hold one 41 qt. or three 12 qt or even one 28 qt. plus one 12 qt.

There are some slight differences between working with a snake housed in a rack with width vs. length-wise insertion but this really boils down to personal preference. In a nutshell I found it easier to have access to most of the tub floor when a tub slides length-wise. But not enough to overcome the advantages of having choices in the number of boxes per level so most of my racks have had the boxes slide width-wise.
-----
Current snakes:

0.0.1 Gonyosoma oxycephala - Java locale (green)

0.2 Gonyosoma oxycephala - Malaysian locale (green)

1.2 Gonyosoma oxycephala - Java local (green)

2.2 Gonyosoma janseni - Seleyar locale (all black)

1.2 Gonyosoma janseni - Celebes locale (Black & Tan)

When using width-wise design, I found it helpful to have a hidebox for the snake, since they are more visible. For length-wise design, the rack itself is the hidebox.

It is easier not to overheat the whole box with a lengthwise design, since less area of the cage is heated.

It usually takes less material with width-wise design.

I don't use racks for adults except for quarantine or temporary caging. I have grown to enjoy the nuances of setting up a cage a bit differently for different species, and with racks you lose that ability. Racks are functional but a bit boring in that regard. I've had to cut way down because of that philosophy, as distinct cages are more costly and take more room, but I truly appreciate the animals even more as opposed to when I just filled racks with the new morph or whatever. Something to think about anyway.
-----
Mark

Mark,

That was a rather confusing post.

I was always under the assumption that width wise meant the width of the tub faced out and the same goes with the length wise the length of the tub faces out.

I know what you meant but it came off weird.

Cheers
-----
Jeremy

"I am become death, the destroyer of worlds" July 16, 1945 Robert Oppenheimer

0.1 Sunglow "Khal" RTB **Coming Soon**
0.1 Snow "Khal" RTB **Coming Soon**
1.1 Double Het "Sharp" Snow RTB's
1.1 Hypomelenistic RTB's
0.0.14 Hypomelenistic RTB's
0.2 Pastel Hypo RTB's
1.0 Double Het Stripe Albino RTB's
0.1 Suriname RTB
0.0.15 Normal Suriname Hybrid's
0.1 Anerthrystic RTB
3.6.17 Red Bearded Dragons
1.1 Rhinoceros Iguana's
1.0 Green Iguana
1.0 Ball Python
1.1 Cream Golden Retrieviers
1.0 Pomeriaian
0.3 Catus Terribilis
0.1 Spouse
1.0 Child

Yeah, I need a better way to describe that. Other than that, I thought it was a wonderful post, certainly among my best work.

By width-wise, I meant wide rack with less depth (box slides in in the direction of its width, not length.)

By length-wise, I meant narrow rack with lots of depth (box slides in the direction of its length.)
-----
Mark

That's how I use the terms as well.
-----
Current snakes:

0.0.1 Gonyosoma oxycephala - Java locale (green)

0.2 Gonyosoma oxycephala - Malaysian locale (green)

1.2 Gonyosoma oxycephala - Java local (green)

2.2 Gonyosoma janseni - Seleyar locale (all black)

1.2 Gonyosoma janseni - Celebes locale (Black & Tan)

>>Yeah, I need a better way to describe that.

Its not you its us as a community that needs to determine a better way of describing it!

Cheers
-----
Jeremy

"I am become death, the destroyer of worlds" July 16, 1945 Robert Oppenheimer

0.1 Sunglow "Khal" RTB
0.1 Snow "Khal" RTB
1.0 Double Het "Khal" Sunglow RTB
1.1 Double Het "Sharp" Snow RTB's
1.1 Hypomelenistic RTB's
0.0.13 Hypomelenistic RTB's
0.2 Pastel Hypo RTB's
1.0 Double Het Stripe Albino RTB's
0.1 Suriname RTB
0.0.7 Normal Suriname Hybrid's
0.1 Anerthrystic RTB
3.6.14 Red Bearded Dragons
1.1 Rhinoceros Iguana's
1.0 Green Iguana
1.0 Ball Python
1.1 Cream Golden Retrieviers
1.0 Pomeriaian
0.3 Catus Terribilis
0.1 Spouse
1.0 Child

Hey guys thanks for all the ideas and clarification between length and width. lol . Alright the next question I have is heat cable. I just finished this cage and routed the bottom one side with the zoo-med repti-heat cable, works great! so when I use this in a rack system should I run one heat cable for the whole rack or just each level? Many thanks

Ian

If you plan to have the rack largely full of animals most of the time, then the one long cable is easiest.

If you want the ability to have some shelves cold while others are warm, then run separate cables (maybe one cable for some of the shelves and another for the rest.)

Lastly, if you need some shelves with more heated area than others (like if you have a ball python in one drawer while a kingsnake in another), then you may want a separate cable with more passes for the python drawer on its own thermostat.

I hope that gives you ideas to consider. My advice to you in this case is to use one long cable and just have multiple racks if you have species with different needs. The benefit is that you will more easily accomodate the snakes.
-----
Mark

I'm almost done building a 9 shelf sweater box rack now (lengthwise btw). Just have a few shelves left to put on tomorrow. I have it heated with flexwatt. Each shelf has a 1'x1' piece of flexwatt at the back, and two wires coming off of each through the backboard.

All I need to do to connect them is twist wire nuts from the wire ends to a cord. That way, I can easily change the configuration depending on what I am housing in the rack at the time. I made the lengths such that I could make groups of 3 all running off the same cord (and thermostat), but any lengths could be done. I thought of this idea when I contemplated what animals would be rotated through this mid size rack as they grew, and realized I would want to keep changing the config over time.
-----
The Reptile Room