Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Does anyone use the Vision racks or know if they are any good? I'm looking to purchase a new rack system for my adult western hogs. Thanks Tom

I think Mr Shanklin uses the Vision rack systerm for he's hog
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Brent Bumgardner
bwbumgardner@aol.com
703.431.1776
Superconda Website

I use racks as well. Small RBI Plastic's shoebox racks for everything that I am growing up. Freedom Breeder CB70's for sub adult females, adult females, and breeding pairs.
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Chris & Alliey
www.bloodyleopard.com
E-mail Us

Glad to see I was paying attention to the actual question asked!
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Chris & Alliey
www.bloodyleopard.com
E-mail Us

I use them, and think that they are close to the best racks out there, especially since they are also the least expensive. Easily assembled, shipped, moved and with the most flexible heating options by far. I also love the fact that they are on rollers.

Everyone should at least try out a Vision rack before they spend a lot more money on another that they may not like nearly as well.
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Brad Chambers
WWW.HCU-TX.ORG

Breeder of:
Green Tree Pythons
Jungle Carpet Pythons
Pastel, Pinstripe, FIRE, Piebald, Clown, Lavender Albino, Leucistic, and Spider Ball Pythons
Striped Colombian Boa Constrictors
Kenyan, Rufescens, and Conicus Sand Boas
Red Phase Western Hognose Snakes
Spider Western Hognose Snakes
Albino Western Hognose Snakes
Locality Trans-Pecos Mexican Hognose Snakes
Southern Hognose Snakes
Eastern Hognose Snakes
Tricolor Hognose Snakes
Hypo Checkered Garter Snakes
Eastern Blackneck Garter Snakes
Stillwater Hypo Bullsnakes
Patternless Bullsnakes
S. GA Eastern Kingsnakes
Locality Desert Kingsnakes
Albino Desert Kingsnakes
Hypo Desert Kingsnakes
Mexican Black Kingsnakes
Desert Phase, Striped Desert, Newport, and Coastal California Kingsnakes
Locality Mexican Milksnakes
Spotted Mexican Milksnakes
Tangerine Mexican Milksnakes
Locality Alterna
Abbott Okeetee Cornsnakes
Mexican Baird's Ratsnakes
Cape Housesnakes
Tangerine Albino African Fat -Tailed Geckos
Locality Spotted Turtles

A few years ago I switched from some inexpensive plastic racks and some home made wood racks to Animal Plastics.
I also have one of the early CB70 Vision racks.
When it comes to hatchling racks there is nothing better than the AP. I have a 9 level, 3 wide, Sterilite 6 QT unit. Every box slides in without splashing the water bowls and the fit is perfect. I keep hatchling hogs and red milks in this rack and have never had one get out. The red milks are the size of a red worm, very tiny. Well made, great fit, heats and maintains heat very well.
I also use the 10 level unit that accepts a 32 QT Sterilite box sideways or two 15 QT boxes inserted lengthwise. I really like the convenience of these racks. I have 3 of them. After about 6 years I had a couple of heat cables burn out. I switched to 3 inch flexwatt wired in parallel and used the cable slot to route my wiring. The fit is still perfect, not as tight as the hatchling rack and no need for it to be. I can use boxes that are drilled for ventilation or not drilled. I highly recommend this model for adult hognose.
I also have an old Vision, CB 70, on casters. These units are assembled by level and have a lot of play. They are not rigid, a little wobble and lots of sway when you move them. However, this older model with 10 individual heat pads is very stable in terms of maintaining heat. The box on the bottom and top are always within a degree or two. The newer models use heat rope/cable and you lay down more or less on each level to have more or less heat. I really don't like this system for two reasons. I don't want to have to redo the cabling to adjust the temps so they are equal on the bottom and top levels. I also have read many times in the forums about cable burn out. Usually the result of a "user error" but still a serious problem.

I too use Animal Plastics for my hogs. Well built and dependable. Great prices and greater customer service.
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Greg Jackson

I have both Animal Plastics and The Vision Versa racks. They are both good in their own way. I truly like the AP racks better, because after using each, I prefer the enclosed racks over the open ones. I also feel they heat better. You can get the Vision racks to heat ok, but you have to add additional heat cable to it, I can't see any way to get it warm enough with the included lengths. I had to add a good bit to get my CB-70 sized Visions to heat up well.

That being said, the Visions definitely give the most heating options. I can keep Heat loving snakes like Hogs in the same rack with Mountain Kings, you just have to run the cable differently. (In other words, fewer loops). You can also adjust your Vision levels later if they discontinue the tubs you are using. A bit of a pain, but possible. Vision makes their own tubs for some of the models, I have them, and they are superior to the commercially available ones.

My last 2 racks were AP, and in the future, I am adding more AP racks. It just depends on what you are looking for. You can get casters added to the AP racks, they go together very easy, and are well made and thought out.
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Brian Suter

www.serpenteer.com

looks like people use the AP racks. Which one do you prefer, the Iris or Sterilite?

Tom

I use the Sterilite 32 qt for my females and 15 qt for my males. Works great. The only problem with Sterilite is they keep changing models.
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Greg Jackson

Once again I have both, lol. Ditto on the problem with Sterilite. I have an AP rack that the Sterilite tubs are already changed, thankfully, I found other models that fit. It held 33 and I didn't need them all at once, by the time I went to fill it, the tub had changed (lesson learned here, buy all the tubs you need right away), that has never happened to me again.

Something to consider about the Iris racks. The Iris tubs are just flat out nicer I think. Better tubs in general. HOWEVER!!, they have the little feet on the bottom. AP, like most racks now, only use flexwatt, heat cable is no longer an option. The little feet on the Iris tubs "catch" on the channel for the flexwatt. This isn't a huge deal, it's a minor annoyance, but it does happen. You have to pull down on the front of the tub when sliding it back in, to jump the back feet out. It's not an issue when pulling the tub forward.

Another thing to think about, the AP rack that holds both the Iris men's shoe box (2 on a level) and the bigger boot box (1 sideways on a level), are not the same exact height. They are listed different even on the Container Store website. I called AP, and believe me, they have awesome customer service, to ask them about the height difference. I was told it was slight, but no where neare the 1/4 inch or so listed. That the gap really wasn't that big. Well, I have the rack, and I can tell you the gap is that big. I wouldn't keep anything other than an adult in the larger tubs (which I do, no probs with grown adults), but the smaller tubs fit beautifully. Just don't expect to move your snakes into the larger ones until they are definitely of sufficient size. Hope this helps. You won't be sorry with any of the AP racks.
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Brian Suter

www.serpenteer.com

looks like i will go with the AP racks, sterilte. I found the 15qt and 32qt tubs. I know you need to build the racks. Are they easy to build and sterdy?

Tom

Even I could build the rack with no problem, and I have 12 thumbs. And, yes, they are extremely sturdy. Pay the extra few bucks and get casters.
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Greg Jackson

Agreed completely.
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www.geckobabies.com

I looked into the vision racks but don't like how flimsy they seem and they move around a lot.

I have AP racks in the CB70 variety and love them. I use the vision V70 tubs instead of the cb70 Iris tubs because they are made of a thinker plastic and have a handle. Plus they are cheaper.

For my female hogs I really like the Medium Bus Tubs (ARS calls them a 3033 bin). They are made of a thick plastic and are the perfect size for even large (500+ gram) female hogs. I also get them for $7.00 locally from a restraint place.

I didn't have the cash to purchase a FB or ARS with the bus tubs so I designed and built a rack using them. It works great but if I had the extra money I'd have AP build me some plastic racks that use the bus tubs.

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Greg Bennett
520.Hognose (520.464.6673)