Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I'm needing to build some racks for my BP's as well as the vast amount of rescue animals we get- having 80 some aquariums all over the house is just not working any more- i have no desk, no dining room table, we have 5 in a pile in the livingroom, 3 in our bedroom, they're just everywhere....

now, I have 40 feet of heat cable already that i'd like to use.

I'm not terribly fond of flexwatt anymore- since it burned a huge random hole in the flexwatt, the tubs, the rack- everything. so i'm looking for something new...

has anyone done a rack using heat cable? i have some ideas.... i just don't know if they'd work....

help please...

Beth
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The rescue site: www.freewebs.com/okreptilerescue

I am in the process of building some racks right now. I am also using heat cable. What I did was used a router to make a "trough" for the cable to lay in on the wood I am using for the bottom of the shelf. It allows the tubs to sit flush over the cable, and leaves about 1/16 inch, so they are not touching. Still in the process, but I have tested, and the cable wont burn the tubs.
I'll post more as I get it all put together, but so far so good.
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James.....
"Curiosity killed the cat, but satisfaction brought the beast back."

great minds think alike- thats the basic idea of what i'd come up with...
and i'm still playing around with testing it to see if it will burn the tubs.

Keep me posted- and i'll keep you posted.

Thanks!!

Beth
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The rescue site: www.freewebs.com/okreptilerescue

Here is a setup I use, very inexpensive.

Link

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www.fbballpythons.com

Like it was already suggested, cut a dado in the wood so that the heat cable lies in the wood and a box can freely slide over the cable without hitting it. Make the dado (groove) as deep as the diameter of the cable so that there is not a lot of empty space. I made a small three drawer rack with heat cable and it works great, but I have a little more space between the box and the heat cable, so unfortunately I can only achieve a temp of about 88 with newspaper bedding. If I want to use aspen, the temp will not get that high. So follow my suggestion if you may use aspen, and if you don't, then you can adjust the temp with a rheostat. I asked about a heat cable rack awhile ago. Some people only have the cable go under the box once, but I have mine go under the box twice, spaced about 1.5" or 2" apart. I don't think I would ever use only one pass of the heat cable for anything but kingsnake hatchlings.