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I've got the opportunity to pick some of these up as a new way to house my BP's without having the cost of buying a rack from boaphile or ap or something. Do ya'll think these would be suitable with a nice strip of flexwatt under one end, they are almost the size of a CB 70 tub.

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Am I having De Ja Vu or did we just answer this -- No not sturdy or secure enough.
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Tosha
JET Pythons
Toshas Blog

Sorry my other thread disappeared hence why I remade it. I guess I'll pass on the boxes and look for another alternative, I can't afford a huge rack and terrariums take up to much space. I also don't have the tools to make a rack myself, any suggestions?

I don't mean to be rude, but if you don't have the money to properly house your animals, should you even have them now. Maybe wait until you can afford the proper equipment. The reason I say this is because I've found myself in this situation of getting a little over my head. I had to back off for a while until I could afford to take care of them properly. I'm even still dealing with problems from going a little to far.

Your not being rude, you just misunderstand my situation. Currently all 5 of my BP's are housed in individual 30 Gallon Long Aquariums that are properly heated and are the proper humidity. HOWEVER, the tanks take up tons of space that could be better managed, hence why I would like to downsize to something that takes up less space that is similar to a rack but without the high costs associated with such. I may also be moving in the next 2 months and space may be an issue with the move.

I see. I have seen people use regular sweater boxes with lids stacked. Heat tape stuck to the wall with a Thermostat and the boxes stacked against.

OK that makes sense -- I thought I was going crazy again.
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Tosha
JET Pythons
Toshas Blog

room

have a heated room....build raxx without heat...cheaper

no room and have to heat?
a pair or two of good balls is better than 20 bad balls...

....think quality....

....we can't all have 100 balls....

.....I ran out of room long ago......
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..JY

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Gotta disagree, I have kept/bred in these for years.....work VERY well.......sorry......but they do work......and VERY sturdy.

Jason

I tried something similar - one BP got out within minutes of placing her in the tub by pushing the tub out and nestling in behind it.

Repeatedly.

We do have another smaller, black one that we use to transfer rats / soak snakes having a bad shed day / feed snakes . . . etc. All supervised and very temporary.

~Bruce

Buy some ars bins at $17 a piece. You say you have 5 balls right? Thats $85. Draw up some plans with a tape measure and a note book that will fit the ars bins. Leave about 1-2 millimeters so the bins can slide nicely. Go to home depot....not lows or menards. Buy about 7-8 pieces of 23'X48' melamine at $11.41 a piece for the shelves, and probably 2 pieces of 49'X97' at $33.72 a piece for the outsides, and have them do all the cutting of the melamine for you. Rent one of their trucks to get it home. Screw it all together with a screw gun.

Your looking at 91.82 67.44 85 the 10 cents a cut (rip) the rental=about $300
You could buy a 10 bin rack from ars caging for $995
or you can build your own 10 bin rack for about $500-600
Weigh it. I am torn about having that heavy melamine in the house and doing all that work to build it or just spent the extra dough.
Good luck with what ever you decide.

I wish it was that easy but I've got maybe $200 to play with at a maximum and if I'm able to do it for less that would be great. I may just have to suck it up with these damn terrariums for now.
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1.1 Normal Ball Python
0.1 Pastel Ball Python
0.1 Spider Ball Python
0.1 Clown Ball Python

2.4 Leopard Geckos

Maybe this can help maybe it can't...Given your $200 budget. Order 3 ARS tubs at $17 a piece equalling $51.

Go to home depot and buy 6 pieces of 23'X48' Melamine.

At $11.41 a piece equalling $68.46.

Have them cut two pieces into 19 1/2 X 34.....the first two cuts are free, then 25 cents a cut after that. So these two pieces will need a total of 4 cuts, so it will cost you 50 cents.

Have them cut the other 4 pieces into 18 X 34. This will take 8 cuts, so $2.00 will be the cost on this.

Total of $121.96

You will need some good screws, so call it $10.00

You should be able to fit this wood into a car, so no truck rental fee.

Your 19 1/2 X 34 are your sides, and the 18 X 34 are the top, bottom, and two middle shelves giving you a three rack system

I wish I could SHOW you the plans I drew out. These are what I am going to make. I am going to end up with 12 of these equalling 36 ball pythons. 4 high and 3 wide. Again, good luck, and I hope i helped.

Hmm this might be an option, getting at least 3 of the terrariums taken down would make things considerably easier and that way I could still leave my clown and spider on display.
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1.1 Normal Ball Python
0.1 Pastel Ball Python
0.1 Spider Ball Python
0.1 Clown Ball Python

2.4 Leopard Geckos

Here are some other ideas for you.
go to the Cages, Racks and Terrariums section in the classifieds and look at what is available. You may find something affordable that will give you the space you need, or pictures of something you can build on your own.

Or give yourself a month or so to save up a bit more money and get yourself a nice boaphile rack, or something similar.
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Ball Pythons:
1.2 Normal
1.2 Pastel
0.1 Black Pastel
2.0 Het Orange Ghost
0.1 Orange Ghost
1.1 Mojave
1.2 Spider
1.1 Albino
0.1 Het Albino
1.0 Piebald
0.1 Double het, Albino Pied
Other:
0.1 Irian Jaya x Jungle Carpet python
1.0 Jungle Carpet Python
1.0 Tiger Retic
1.1 Burmese Pythons
1.1 Brazilian Rainbow Boas
3.3 Corn Snakes
0.0.1 American Alligator
1.0 Savannah Monitor
0.0.1 Argus Monitor
1.0 Chinese Water Dragon
0.1 Brown Basilisk
1.2 Crested Gecko
0.1 Sulcata Tortoise
1.1 Sugar Gliders
1.1 Puppies

AP economy plastic rack is $245 shipped with heat. Holds 12, 15qt tubs or 6, 32qt tubs (sterlite). 6 shelves. Save a few bucks and you are set.

Look at triple L they have the vision rack systems for a little less than vision sells them. They work great, look good and are affordable. A lot less weight than melamine racks and clean up easier

WOW!! You would actually be saving money if you spent the 369 for the 10 bin rack, plus shipping you will spend $458. To get 10 bins my way you will spend about $400, and even then you will only get 9, because it is a three rack system, so I think I am going to get this and save myself a LOT of work...thanks Kitsapreptiles for bringing our attention to that.

Or you could make your own... I found this link and he says he made everything for $220:

http://www.blueappleherps.com/page13/page14/page14.html

I'm going to make one this weekend I think..
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1.0 Het Albino Burm
0.1 Albino Burm
1.1 Mojave Ball Pythons
0.1 Normal Ball Python
1.0 Albino Ball Python
1.1 Pastel Ball Pythons
0.1 Spider Ball Python
0.2 Het Albino Ball Pythons
0.1 Lavender Albino Retic

Seeking bigger cages for the family

If you are at all handy with some basic tools (or know someone that is) you can put together one of these types of racks for fairly cheap:

Shelving Rack

Since this post there have been many newer and cheaper shelving units you can work with - definitely worth looking into if you are on a budget.

Good luck!
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Tosha
JET Pythons
Toshas Blog

I wonder if you stacked 10-15 and then surrounded and boxed in the whole lot with a plywood box, all except the front, it might work. Heating would have to be back not belly though.

I already responded to this post earlier, and I know they deleted it because of the link, so sorry if this post isn't as good as the first. I know it seems like you've already made up your mind about not using these shelves, but I figured I'd give you some more concrete reasons on really not to use them.

I have to disagree with JTrott... Tosha's right, they are not study, and in fact very flimsy. I catch myself re-examining these pre-made plastic shelves all the time when I go to WalMart or Target, cuz you're right. I mean, look at them!! They'd be so practical and cheap and space saving. In reality, I guess they really could be used if you tried hard enough or maybe had some ingenuity, but I'd never use them, and here's why:

Next time you have your hands on one, pull out the bin about halfway and reach your hand up to the ceiling of that bin and feel around. There are gapping holes where the top of the bin should be touching the the shelf, and I've seen a crafty ball python get through much smaller. The bottom of each shelf (or what your ball would be looking at if it looks up) has all kinds of squares and indents and crap -- places that it can harm itself as far as I'm concerned, and more importantly makes me believe that these things would not hold a speck of humidity because of all that external air flow that is accessible to the inside of the bins. Additionally, if you stack them up high enough, maybe about the height of your waist, and you press on the side of them with your finger, it WILL lean.

One of my snakes escaped one day and I found it in the tubing on one of these type of shelf-things I used for storage in the kitchen (the supportive structure is hollow). It took Frank using a saw and me freaking out the entire time to get him out.

Yeah, all this stuff not worth it to me.

You need a rack, and IMO, your stuck with the terrarium until you can afford a nice Boaphile one or RhinoRaxx one. Trust me, it's worth the wait and you don't want to spend money on something crappy that's not really good for your snakes... than it ends up being a waist of money in the end. You could always pick the rack you like and house them in the tubs with heat tape for now, then buy the rack that suits the tubs later.

I built my last two racks. It's much cheaper than buying them in the long run... maybe you can borrow the tools from someone?

Hope this helps! PM me if you have nay questions at all!!
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Cheers!
• Chelsea Lynn Gardiner
(and Frank M. Wood)