Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Thank you for all the ideas and opinions on rack systems and sizes of tubs. Especially the threading idea. I personally went with 28 qt containers because all of the animals I keep can be in these lifelong.

Step one: Collecting parts, Melamine shelves, all thread, nuts, casters, and tubs

Step 2: Drill holes for all thread (I dont wear a mask but its recommended because dust and formaldehyde are both toxic)

Step 3: Start dropping shelves and threading nuts (takes a while with the first few.

Here it is so far... Still have to laminate the sides and slap my Black PVC panels on the sides and backs as well as wire up some heat and thermostats.. Will post pictures then.

That's cool! How do you laminate the sides? I've never worked with Melamine before. I make everything out of plywood or pine boards. I'm working on one for my larger Kings made from Pegboard shelves. Not sure how it will turn out or how long it will last, but I have a good feeling about it.
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King Snakes! Who can make a better mouse trap?
Jorge Sierra

My Site > www.Sierrasnakes.com

Hello, When I am laminating the faces of the shelves, top and bottom, I buy Formica in a roll. I roll it out to the appropriate size with an inch on all sides extra, Then I use a spray adhesive (outside because it smells). I turn it over and do the next and then leave them stacked so they go flat all the way.

For the sides, I use "EDGE BANDING" which looks like this

http://www.amazon.com/Freud-EB045-16-Inch-Black-Banding/dp/B00004RK07/ref=pd_cp_hi_2

This stuff is laid out and ironed on, IT is made with an adhesive that works like magic on the wood. Don't forget to buy the edge cutting tool to trim the excess off if your going to use this. I have heard a lot of people tell me they use a sharp utility knife but I have not had good luck with that.

.
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King Snakes! Who can make a better mouse trap?
Jorge Sierra

My Site > www.Sierrasnakes.com

Great Looking rack so far!!!Thanks for posting pics...
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Jimmy Tintle

A neat and tidy affair!
How do you plan to deal with the temperature variant from the top to the bottom tubs?

I only mention this as I have put all my snake cages on the floor during the heat wave we are having now. A 10+ F difference from the usual location at shoulder height to the floor.
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Bob
Pyromaniac AKA Greatballzofire
Keeping cats allows man to cohabitate with tigers. Keeping reptiles allows man to cohabitate with dinosaurs.

As with my current set ups, I use 17 inch flexwatt, and on this one, the top 6 tubs will have a strip and the bottom 4 tubs will have there own. I keep the lower ones off completely during the late spring through fall when I am cooling my animals down and I keep my males and rubber boas in those lower ones. In the early spring when my house is still 70 during the day or 65 at night, I turn the heat on super low to get a 78 degree warm spot but it still goes off completely at night.

The heat on the top cages is for my females or animals that don't mind it a little warmer. My house is kept at a constant 74 degrees and those cages are 82-84 in the hot spot and 75 in the cool spot. I have heard of people talking about heat accumulation in higher cages, but I have been using 17 inch flexwatt for back heat on dimmers or thermostats for about 4 years now and have seen no problem with this.

Also, Since my mother makes the side paneling for me out of pvc (she owns a sign shop), I always have her make a clean cut between the top heat and bottom heat so that I can remove the side panels from the bottom shelves if I decide to and allow more air flow, but I have yet to see a need to do so.

Congrats. Your project turned out great.

--Dennis

That is an ingenious idea and I was happy with it. I have been looking for good options to make shelves perfect. When I screw them on they move and are not always Exactly as I want but the all thread is great.

Here are some pics of one of my older set ups that I built. Don't mind the vision cage that is being stored on top (I use to think you had to keep animals in big glass tanks or vision cages when I was younger). The side view shows a dimmer and timer as well as the Expanded PVC siding.

What I do is I first turn on the heat tape with no thermostat so that I can dim it to the hottest exceptable range without getting to hot. Then hook it to a thermostat. This will prevent the thermostat from allowing to much power and bringing temps really high. This happened to me twice when I did not use a dimmer. The thermostat would allow the heat tape to pulse to its highest setting and heat up the cage way to hot.

Hay, you did a great job on that! I like that a lot. Did you have them cut the wood for you? About how much did all that cost not including the heating, just the tubs and supplies you've used so far? If you don't mind me asking that is.

Ikea Pax wardrobe 3/4 inch shelves, $15 for a 2 pack= $90

5/8" all thread $11 x4 = $44

5/8" hex nuts 96 of them were discounted at 28 cents each? = about $30

Casters of your choice (wheels) mine were 4 bucks a piece x4 = $16

28 qt tubs 6 dollars rounding up x10 = $60

Total= $240 (after I buy the siding and back and heat it will be totaled right around $300)

Any commercial racks cost to much and did not come with tubs or heat at that cost and did not house that many animals.

Wow, you did save a bunch there. I'm sure that will encourage others to try it. I've never done that before but I bet its doable for me. Thanks a lot for sharing!

It is doable for anyone of any experience.
Just measure twice and drill once on the shelves because if your not precise, the shelves won't line up great and may not slide on well.

Yeah, that's definitely one thing you must do right.

Great looking rack. (My wife said thank you, but I was not talking to her) LOL

I would like to throw out an idea. Instead of using the Formica, and this would work on ply-wood also, a lot cheaper.

Use the roll on bed liner, better yet, the spray on bed liner in a can. (not so gritty). I use it for a lot of stuff and it would go along way on those shelves. When I build my first rack, it will be this design, with ply-wood and spray on bed liner. Have a great day
DAVY

I don't know much about the stuff but I do know that most aresol cans contain some nasty stuff.

Do you know by chance if the stuff contains toluene or xylene??
If so, I would not feel comfortable using it, as it breaks down over time it would be releasing some of these things that are known to cause neurologic symptoms and other illness.

Formica and melamine are closed cell stabilized products that are known to be safe and do not deteriorate until very high temperatures that would have been bad for the animals anyway.

What brand would you use of the bed liner, and would you spray the entire shelf??? Spray on pre treated wood or raw wood??

Do you know by chance if the stuff contains toluene or xylene??

That is a good point. I will check into that. Might be a little difference in the content of the aresol and the roll on. It is pretty durable, when it dries it's not going anywhere.

What brand would you use of the bed liner, and would you spray the entire shelf??? Spray on pre treated wood or raw wood??

I use HERCULINER for all my projects. Yes, spray the entire shelf. Ply wood or partical board don't have to be prepared. It adheres that it the best. It will adhere to just about anything if the surface is prepared right. It comes with instructions on how to prepare different surfaces.

Thanks again I think that is a good design.

DAVY

Sounds great. I bet the roll on stuff would be fine, and you know its durable when its meant to line a truck bead right? I might use this if it is cost effective next time.

Nice and simple, eh?
Congrats on the build and thanks for sharing pics.......
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John Lassiter
Poor planning and procrastination on your part does not constitute an emergency on my part...

A great benefit to that design is that different height boxes can be accommodated. Takes time to re-adjust but it can be done.

If this rack is for kings and milks, then sides are probably not really needed if using belly heat, unless you are adding sides to give the snakes some security.

If for something like boa constrictors and such, then yes, the insulating properties of having sides and a back may be important in a cool room.

(I said "and such" just like McCreedy.)
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Mark

insulting sides are grEAT for BULLSNAKES and such TO!!!, but not so much for CHIKINS AND SUCH!!!!!!!!!

~Doug

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"a snake in the grass is a GOOD thing"

serpentinespecialties.webs.com

LOL.

lol, I am using it for zonata, pyro, and charina. I keep the sides on for the mountain kings and use back heat to maintain a steady 80 - 82 degree hot spot.
The bottom cages, I remove the sides and turn the heat off for my rubber boas. They do not like it warm. It stays 72 in their moist hides and they like it cool. They even like to eat in their cold spot. My males and females do use the warmer spots too though.
I love the adjustability and the way it looks.

Oh WOW! You must have used a great drill!