Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Dear all:

esp. a shout out to Ross2k, markus Jayne, JM, Jaymarting104, UF_gator, Rplank, JoshJungle, and the dude breeding BP's in Blackwood, Virginia (your name escapes me, but I think it starts with a P something).

I am already just about done with my rack. I bought the wood this early morning and I spent $16.87 on the wood. I picked the frugal man's approach.

Lowes cuts wood for you if you buy their wood. I bought a big piece of plywood and had them cut it into: six pieces of 16" x 24" and two pieces of 24" X 48". If you draw it out, you can see that all eight pieces can come out of one sheet of 96" x 48" plywood.

The six pieces are the shelves. The two larger pieces are the sides. With six pieces, I have room for five tubs (28 qt sterlite). If I added two more shelf pieces, then I can have up to seven tubs in my rack. Later, when I get more BPs, I will be adding more shelves.

It only took me a few minutes to assemble. I think the included pictures will illustrate waht I did.

All that is left for me to do is do the back side and add the heat tape. I am pretty excited. I feel like a frugal handy man! I did it all for just a few dollars! The wood and screws came to only under $20!

cheers.

Thx all for all the help.

http://gallery.pethobbyist.com/index.pl?photo=96020

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Longtang. I like snakes and rats.

Longtang,
Very nice job on the racks. Oddly enough, that's amost the exact procedure I use to produce $200 racks.
Just one thing that you should note. Wood is NOT waterproof. If you have a water dish spill (which you will if you have ball pythons), it will cause humidity which will generate condensation on the shelf. Over time, the wood will warp and peel and you'll need to replace the shelf. That's why you don't see manufacturers making racks directly out of wood, they either use plastic or melamine.
You could use a sealer to seal the wood, but I would never put a snake in contact with that stuff even after it dries. If it can still give me a buzz, it can't be good for a snake.
I hope the rack works out well for you and good job again,
Jason @ Jason's Jungle

I didn't think about the fact that sealant may be bad for snakeys.

I was hoping to buy some spray can sealant and just spray.

Has anyone here ever used stains or sealant for their BP rack? Is there a type of sealant that may be safer than others?

If sealant indeed turns out to be bad for the BP, then I guess I will just use this rack for as long as it will hold up. I will try to make sure that the water don't spill from the water bowls and see how long the plywood will last.

I guess for my next rack, I will have to think of a better way. It sure is a shame, though, because I saw some sealants for about $4.80 at Lowe's. I was hoping that I could just spray that stuff.

Anyone have any suggestions of what I may be able to protect the plywood (short of using the lids that came with the 28 qt tubs). Right now the rack is build to be lid-less. In fact, the 16" width of the shelves would not fit the tub lids. So, not only do I not have verticle clearance, I also don't have horizontal clearance to accomodate lids.

thx for any input!

sincerely.
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Longtang. I like snakes and rats.

I know it's a little late to suggest this but for the next rack you build if you use pressure treated plywood then it will last longer and resist the water. However I don't know how the chemicals used in the pressure treated wood would do with the snakes. You could build them to include tops next time. All in all you figure it will at least last one season and for $20 that isn't too bad. Good work!!

Paul

Rubbermade contact paper. It's cheap and you would only have to do the roof of the shelf. Plywood is so pourous, that it takes a lot of sealer to fill the cracks and it definatley soaks up a lot in the process. Normally it takes about 5-6 coats just to get it semi-smooth. As Jason stated, plastic and melamine work the best are really aren't that much more expensive. A 49 x 97 sheet of melamine is only $28 at Home Depot. It's heavy, but I've got racks that I made 10 years ago that are still looking great.......even after all of the moving. lol. Getting ready for it again. Good luck and nice work.

Brandon Osborne

You can staple the flexwatt to the back of the rack. Attach it to the rack itself, then install the rear panel. Just remember not to staple into the metal conductors that run the length of the heat tape. You can staple directly through the clear part with no problems.

Brandon Osborne

>>You can staple the flexwatt to the back of the rack. Attach it to the rack itself, then install the rear panel. Just remember not to staple into the metal conductors that run the length of the heat tape. You can staple directly through the clear part with no problems.
>>
>>Brandon Osborne

awesome info! The local store is a Lowe's store and they didn't have the oversized melamime wood.

I did read about the 97" x 49" melamine on Markus Jayne's site. I jsut didn't realize that I had to go to home depot to find it. I guess Lowe's is just not the same (Lowe's is like a girlie version of a Home Improvement store)!

The next rack I build will be with the oversized melamine. I am going to make it 16.25 inches width shelves. I think 16.25 inches will accomodate more types of tubs than the 16" inches. I went with 16" because 48" plywood cuts nicely into three 16" wide pieces. However, with the 49" oversized wood, I can easily do three 16.333 inches!

Here is a question: where do I find the rubbermaid contact paper? Do I just go to Lowe's and ask for it?

Is it the same stuff that people use to line their kitchen drawers? I think I have seen drawer liners at my local Base Exchange (BX).

cheers. Please point me to the right place to find contact paper. Thank you for the suggestion. I think it is a great one and it will help my rack last much longer. Once I find the contact paper, I am going to apply it to the roofs of my shelves.

By the way, in the coming days, I will be doing thermo-gradient measurements to document and fine-tune the micro-environment in the racks. Stay tuned for a report in the near future!

I am probably not going to staple the flexwatt. I think I am going to use foil tape.

cheers.

p.s. pleas have a Pleasant Ball Python day!
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Longtang. I like snakes and rats.

Here is a question: where do I find the rubbermaid contact paper? Do I just go to Lowe's and ask for it?

.......You can find the contact paper at just about any department store. Lowe's, Home Depot, Wal-Mart, ect.

Is it the same stuff that people use to line their kitchen drawers? I think I have seen drawer liners at my local Base Exchange (BX).

.......Yep. Same stuff.

I am probably not going to staple the flexwatt. I think I am going to use foil tape.

........That was another suggestion I was going to make. It actuall will increase the heated surface area if you only tape the outside perimeter of the heat tape. The foil tape acts as a heat transfer. Good luck and have fun.

Brandon Osborne

>>Here is a question: where do I find the rubbermaid contact paper? Do I just go to Lowe's and ask for it?
>>
>>.......You can find the contact paper at just about any department store. Lowe's, Home Depot, Wal-Mart, ect.
>>
>>
>>Is it the same stuff that people use to line their kitchen drawers? I think I have seen drawer liners at my local Base Exchange (BX).
>>
>>.......Yep. Same stuff.
>>
>>
>>I am probably not going to staple the flexwatt. I think I am going to use foil tape.
>>
>>........That was another suggestion I was going to make. It actuall will increase the heated surface area if you only tape the outside perimeter of the heat tape. The foil tape acts as a heat transfer. Good luck and have fun.
>>
>>Brandon Osborne
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Longtang. I like snakes and rats.

you couls go to the dollor store and get shelf paper the kind with one side sticky then when you put it on over lap it. that should help a little to keep water out
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1 iguana
2 ball pythons
1 sparkle caiman
1 musk
1 macaw
2 dogs
1 cat
1 wife {LOL}

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"I am a cop, and you will respect my authoritae!"-Cartman

If you want to keep the rack for a VERY long time, I'd use a two part epoxy. It's self leveling, scratch resistant, waterproof, heat resistant, etc., etc., and deposits an extremely thick coating.

IMPORTANT!!!!! - Whichever sealant you choose, allow a full 30 days for the sealant to cure completely. It will be hard and dry to the touch in from a few hours to a day or two, but it will still be outgasing (reacting chemically beneath the surface) for up to the full month.

Once that's done, you're all set.

Hope this helps,

Neil

What is the size/make of the tubs? Thanks and nice rack for cheap!

Nevermind the last post-just realized how dumb a question that is! Good job though.

>>Nevermind the last post-just realized how dumb a question that is! Good job though.

Hey, not dumb at all. Happy to oblige. They are the sterlite tubs and they are the 28 qt (27 Liter) ones. They have a great dimension: 16 x 22 x 6 inches. It is the perfect size for the wood to be cut in such a way that there is not a single unused inch from a 4' x 8' plywood piece.

of course, the 16 inches is without the lid. If I were to have included the lid, the 16 inches wouldn't have accomodated.

Thanx for the compliments. Let me know if I can be of further help.

cheers.
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Longtang. I like snakes and rats.

Just wanted to compliment you on your rack. And you made it for a very economical price. Like the others have said, be careful about humidity with that wood and it's tendecy to warp. I guess you could use that rack for younger BP's and build another rack made out of melamine for adults. But either way, whatever works for you is good.

Looks good, glad I could help out.
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Michael

buy a couple more snakes to fill it up!

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"I am a cop, and you will respect my authoritae!"-Cartman

n/p