Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Check out the new rack!

OK so I actually finished it several months ago and am only now getting around to posting pics...but hey.

It is built to be totally adjustable in terms of heating and tub size. And it completely disassembles for when I have to move.

I can change the heat cable by winding it through more or less grooves. I can replace shelves to run the heat in the other direction. And I can change the hieght to accomodate any box.

Hopefully the pics will show what I am talking about.

Currently have some kings in the bottom in CB75 tubs (22x37in)
Anthill pythons in the large Cambro tubs (25x17 inches). And some holdback hatchlings in the small camro tubs up top (18x4in). Total of 24 snakes.

>>Check out the new rack!
>>
>>OK so I actually finished it several months ago and am only now getting around to posting pics...but hey.
>>
>>It is built to be totally adjustable in terms of heating and tub size. And it completely disassembles for when I have to move.
>>
>>I can change the heat cable by winding it through more or less grooves. I can replace shelves to run the heat in the other direction. And I can change the hieght to accomodate any box.
>>
>>Hopefully the pics will show what I am talking about.
>>
>>Currently have some kings in the bottom in CB75 tubs (22x37in)
>>Anthill pythons in the large Cambro tubs (25x17 inches). And some holdback hatchlings in the small camro tubs up top (18x4in). Total of 24 snakes.
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>

Very nice. Good Idea.

I like the rack but have a couple of questions.
How well is the melamine holding up to humidity? I keep balls and need to keep the humidity high. I have seen melamine swell, flake, and fall apart when exposed to moisture. Vinyl shelf lining may be a solution.
What was the cost of the individual parts?
thanks
John Q

What is the brand of heat cable that you are using?
I have the same set up, but no cable.

The melamine is holding up fine. Melamine has no trouble with the sealed faces. Its only if the edges get wet that you run into trouble. I sprayed the edges with a silicone spray to protect them. In this rack everything I keep is pretty dry, but I have kept humid milks in melamine racks for years with no problems. The beauty of this rack is that if a shelf does warp or get damaged its easy and cheap to replace it.

Forgot about that part of the question.

The grand total came to around $800. Hard to tell exactly because I bought enough of most materials to build a second rack.

The rack can hold 27 snakes as is right now so around 30 bucks per cage.

The breakdown - estimates...

200 for the rods and screws
100 for melamine
100 for heat cable
200 for two thermostats
200 for tubs

Very cool. Do those threaded rods keep things pretty stable?

And are those really Cambro boxes? They look more like the Rubbermaid polycarbonate boxes. I have had both and back then the Cambro boxes were completely clear and the Rubbermaids had the frosted corners.
-----
Currently keeping a small collection of various Gonyosoma. Both G. janseni and G. oxycephala.

Yeah the rods are 3/4 in thick and the thing is sturdier than a tank.

Those are the largest cambro boxes. The medium size (10 gal footprint) and smaller are clear all around, these have frosted corners.

Nicely done. Is that 3/8 threaded rod?

I saw a breeder who had a similar design but using pegboard instead and some pine strips for more support. He used flexwatt on top of each shelf. The rack worked; can't argue.
-----
Mark

the rods are 3/4 inch.

After holding the 1/2 inch in my hands I didn't feel confident it would support such a long tall rack. Maybe a smaller rack.

A friend of mine has a 6' tall rack made with the 1/2" rod. Basically your design. It is an old rack and still works okay but is very flimsy. He bought it from a large breeding operation so who knows how many years old it really is. Regardless, I don't think the 1/2" rod would be a good choice based on what I saw.
-----
Currently keeping a small collection of various Gonyosoma. Both G. janseni and G. oxycephala.

>>the rods are 3/4 inch.
>>

Now that I look back on my question, I feel silly. Melamine, tall rack.. 3/8" rod would not do so well lol.
-----
Mark

How long did it take to screw all those nuts down to the right level? Did you use any shortcuts? I would like to build one for myself but also would like to find a way around all that screwin'! LMAO
-----
1.0 ghost
0.1 het albino
1.0 dh sunglow 66% het anery
1.1 anery het albino
1.0 motley 50% het albino
0.1 anery 66% het albino
0.1 anery
0.1 circleback laddertail

Yeah that was the most annoying part.

After I built it I had an idea. You could use the same design except instead of the bolts use PVC spacers. This would make construction faaster and cheaper but it would have some negatives too.

First you would loose the fine adjustments that I can make. Like if a board sags a little, or if a tub isn't perfectly symetrical, I can fractionally adjust each corner of each shelf. Also I can change the height of each shelf for different drawers without having to remove all the ones above it.

thats gonna be how i guild my future racks if u dont mind awesome idea i love how you can do fine adjustments thats what ive been worried about with getting racks and also how you could use any tub u wanted for different size snakes. if you dont mind could you post a pic of how you have the heat cable placed.
-----
1.1 jungle carpets
1.1 sumatran bloods
1.1 het albino rtb

Not sure about what type of PVC spacers you plan on using, but it would seem fairly inexpensive to use plastic water pipe as spacers. You would still have the problems with infinite adjustment or fine tuning, but assembly would be quicker. One bolt top and bottom would keep it tight.

To speed things as far as threading those bolts one could take a steel rod and affix a rubber wheel of some type and use it like a "transmission" - just contact the wheel with the nut with a drill. You'd have to make fine adjustments by hand of course. Another idea is to use a stripping wheel. These have abrasive "fingers" on them attatched to a spindle and are great for stripping. I've done both when using large lengths of all-thread for projects. Be sure to use eye protection though!

Jay
1.1 Dumeril's

I believe Tim at Third Eye Herp has similar racks, except they run the length of his snake room. He posted pics awhile ago. They seem to work very well in a herp room.

I am definitely not the originator of the idea. What gave me the idea was an entertainment unit my father bought for his stereo! Since then I have also seen pictures of Paul Edwards facility which has similar racks.

I built mine this way and afterwords spoke with Norm Damm who uses the same setup.