Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Okay so here is the deal. I am a small time hobbiest. I have four ball pythons. 3 cornsnakes. I have a house full of tanks right now, and I have to find a way to stack them. Those amazing plastic ones are way out of my price range right now saddly. And I have some carpendry skills but not many. I also can not heat a whole room, so they need to be heated by themselves. More importantly, I want to be able to see my snakes and give them interesting environments that normal racks do not provide, nor do I believe that those racks provide enought room for an adult snake *just me I know*

SO here are my questions.

Could I turn my 55s on their sides and create a sliding type door on the front, and a short wall to keep the substrate down. If so how do I use a heat light? Can you put a light directly on glass? If not can you put it above the glass and have it heat through the glass?

Or if I make boxes out of pegboard, wood, and glass with tile or vinal floors, then I can make the top out of screen so that takes care of the light, but what about the uth, can they be used on wooden floors? If not what do I use for the bottoms?

Or is there somewhere that makes a rack that is see through, large, and easy to heat?

Or finally, are there people here to take commissions?

better off buying cage

go to shows. they have tons of surplus plastic cages that are made for reptiles, unlike the aquariums which are a pain.

I wouldnt put lights up against glass. if the surface temp gets too hot the glass may crack or even shatter.

You can also build your own out of such things as melamine. I would do the whole turn the tank on the side. one it would be a pain and two it would be awkward and if stacked or what good chance of breaking and broken glass and animals is not good mixture.

Tom

i agree with tbone, glass tanks can be stacked as high as you want to but once to turn 'em on thier side they lose probally most of thier structeral strenght (ex take a tube out of a papet towel roll, stand it up on the floor and step on it. now lay it flat and step on it. BIG difference. thats an extreem but same basic idea).

im in the same boat as you are, cages scattered around the house hard and expencive to heat. however stackable cages are WAY out of the price range. i myself am a cabinet maker so its easy for me so say build one myself, but i also see alot of old posts with noncarpenters building thier own with out the use of many tools... one great idea i saw was instead of getting you supplies at home depot or lowes get it from a local cabinet shop!! not only can they get ya all good stuff but the can also precut and machine everything ya need for it, all you gatta do is take it home and bang it together. more than that even you could have them save you the hassel and put it together for you, assuming you have a truck to get it home with and a door big enough to get it through. two thing that should allway be thought of befor anything like this.

where plastic works the best, malimine works alot better than glass for snake cages. it holds the heat alot better not more screen tops the snakes feel more secure less stressed in a closed in area and not wide open glass that can be seen from everywhere. not only that but you will like all your snakes in the same area, makes it easier when it come time for cleaning and feeding. i know i mentioned heating allready a few times (sorry im a little obsessed right now i have o thread about that going myself you might check out) its alot easier to heat cages stacked together than spread out they will help eachother. so conbined with melimine over glass and stacked over spread out, you will use alot less watts to heat the same area, thats just logic.

this is IMO the best option for a noncarpenter doityourselfer. you migh spend a few hundred bucks for the whole set up, but to me it seem alot more worth it to spend a few hundred buck on a set up of many cages than to spend almos that on ONE!! i think its worth a phone call or a stop in to a cab-shop.

so i hope you manage to get something out of my (allmost imposible to follow) ramblings. i do suggest you get rid of the glass tanks.

Could I turn my 55s on their sides and create a sliding type door on the front, and a short wall to keep the substrate down. If so how do I use a heat light? Can you put a light directly on glass? If not can you put it above the glass and have it heat through the glass?

I have a few friends that do this and they love the cages. One of them stacked tanks on their sides about 5' high but I think used strips of foam insulation in between to distribute the load. Heating can be tricky and these are best if you use primarily room heat and then just provide small amounts of supplemental heat. I would not shine light through the glass except for cooler fluorescent.

One of the used those adjustable metal shelves to make a rack for 55's turned on their sides. Lots of options.

Or if I make boxes out of pegboard, wood, and glass with tile or vinal floors, then I can make the top out of screen so that takes care of the light, but what about the uth, can they be used on wooden floors? If not what do I use for the bottoms?

There are plenty of options here without resorting to a screen top. I won't go into the details but if you decide to build your own cages from wood or other sheet material we can help you with the heating options.

BTW, I was one of the people who recommended tracking down a local cabinet maker to help with building cages. Even if you just get the panels cut and assemble them yourself you can probably come up with a very nice cage. I'm always surprised people don't do more of this.

Or is there somewhere that makes a rack that is see through, large, and easy to heat?

I have seen racks made from clear Cambro food storage boxes that were awesome. The boxes are about 26" x 18" and come in different heights. If that's enough space then this setup can be very nice.

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Currently keeping a small collection of various Gonyosoma. Both G. janseni and G. oxycephala.

see there ya go the idea right from chris, great idea from a guy who knows. sorry chris i was trying to take credit just trying to promote what sounds to me like a really good option, i think more people should take advantage of. then again that might be just because i myself work at one of those cabinet shops....

um i also have to ad a little about the glass stacking. i should have mentioned i myself never tried to stack cages (mostly because it didnt sound like the smartest of ideas). if you take a glass tank and put it on its side it does lose some structure strenght, how much i dont know, its seem to me like it should lose alot. howeven if you distribute the weight evenly i can see where it could work. or even better build shelves to set them in. if chris has friends that do this sucessuflly im more likely to agree and say yes it can work fine. chris has alot more experince with all this than i do. however i still hold to my recomendation of building, but that also might be coming from my own kick to get rid of my own glass tanks. they work, hey ive had snakes in glass tanks for allmost 15 years, but they are not quite right for the job from everything ive read in the last few months.

but anyways sorry i'll just set off my box lol

sorry chris i was trying to take credit just trying to promote what sounds to me like a really good option, i think more people should take advantage of. then again that might be just because i myself work at one of those cabinet shops....

No need to apologize, you're not required to remember everyone who posts and idea and reference it back to them

Keep us up to date on any cages you build. I'm sure with your background and access to machines you can build some really nice enclosures.
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Currently keeping a small collection of various Gonyosoma. Both G. janseni and G. oxycephala.

hey thanks alot

yeah i plan on building something nice for myself at the very least. it wont be for a month or two but i will let ya know how it comes out and post pictures and everything. just need to decide on heating all the little detail will work themselves out in the end

I have decided to save up and cheat, buying one of those freedom racks with the windows in the front. Thanks for all of the advice folks, you all rock!