Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I am going to be purchasing some Kenyan Sand Boas here in a bit and I ultimatly want to start my own breeding colony. I would like to hear from everyone their opinions on building a rack system over buying a rack system. How much money will you save? How long does it take to build? I am not a skilled wood worker so should I even attempt to build?

Danny

Rack building does take some skill, but what's really most important is that your pieces are square and consistent in size.

There are ways to build racks without making one cut, however. You can either have the material cut for you at a specialty lumber yard or a cabinet shop. I've had Home Depot cut lumber for me and have had mixed results. I'd feel a lot better about using them if they were allowed to place a clamp on the rail of their panel saws. Then I could assure consistent cuts. There could still be a problem with squareness but if the operator takes his or her time that should not be a problem.

Another option is to use pre-cut shelving pieces. There are two different designs for this that are posted here frequently. I'm sure if you read back several pages you'd find them. One is the "Rob Jenkins" design, the other the "Ladder Rack" design.

Also looks for posts by me where I talk about melamine spacers. I've posted links in those threads that I don't have on this computer.

The problem right now with using these precut shelving pieces is the shortage of suitable boxes for standard sweater box rack.

Rubbermaids 28 qt. box, the original and still best box for racks, is no longer made.

Sterilites 32 qt. box has become difficult to find and is being replaced with a similar product with feet on the bottom and a flimsy rim - do not use these with Kenyan Sand Boas. If you can find the 32 qt. without feet they are very tall and do not use material as efficiently unless you build a very tall rack.

So what I'm getting at is that many of the boxes you'll be able to find nowadays won't work with the pre-cut shelves used in the designs I previously mentioned. The shelves will be just a hair too small for the boxes.

But with all that said, racks can be built for very little money. If you don't have to move very often melamine is a great product to build racks from.

If a light rack suits your fancy then you should consider buying.

Jason's Jungle makes the best rack on the market. I suppose Habitat Systems are as good or better but they are more expensive. I like the dark look of the PVCX that Jason's Jungle uses and prefer the material.

Animal Plastics makes a rack that offers great value. They come unassembled and that saves a lot on shipping. Also, this allows them to build racks taller than 5 boxes that other prefab racks are limited too for shipping reasons. Animal Plastics racks are high density polyethylene.

Boaphile is supposed to be coming out with an unassembled rack that will be a good value. I'm not sure when that will happen. They also use PVCX.

I think unassembled plastic racks is where the industry is headed.

Thank you very much for your help!

I would buy from now on.

I thought that building my own racks was a great idea until I added up the total for materials. And that doesn't even include my time. Yea, I like my racks, but they are heavy and they take some time to build.

I used the precut vinyl coated shelves that required no cutting but they are expensive. And the final racks are heavy to move. No, I don't move them very often but if you need to, it's heavy. Plus, when I need a new rack, I will have to start all over again and build another.

If you go with cutting the sheets of melamine, you will save lots of money. But then you have an even heavier rack because the full 4X8 sheets are 3/4" thick. The shelves I used were 5/8" thick. AND, they are not as heavily coated. It's more like paper I have found.

Having said all that, if you want to spend your time enjoying, raising, breeding your reptiles. Then buy a rack. And I have seen the racks that Jason's Jungle makes. They are great. First of all, they are practically unbreakable. Made of some type of PVC material I think. They are black so they look cool and the snakes must like that dark color. If you need to move your racks to the other side of the room for some reason, just, move it. So easy. The plastic racks won't peel, warp, or swell from water.

Oh, here's a bonus. You said you were getting into Kenyas. Well, Jason at Jason's Jungles is a Kenya Sand Boa breeder. So there you have a built in knowledge when it comes to heating and stuff.

Here are the links again to my home made racks but frankly, I feel I should put a notice that buying a pvc rack is better in the long run.

Good luck,
Troy
Troy's Ladder Rack

I agree.

>>I am going to be purchasing some Kenyan Sand Boas here in a bit and I ultimatly want to start my own breeding colony. I would like to hear from everyone their opinions on building a rack system over buying a rack system. How much money will you save? How long does it take to build? I am not a skilled wood worker so should I even attempt to build?

Building a rack system is pretty easy. There are lots of good guides around on the web that you can use.

That said, it does require a bit of skill and it helps if you have the right tools and materials. If you want to do everything yourself, which I'd recommend, you'd probably want to have: a circular saw, a high-quality blade, a square, a guide rail for the saw (purchased or home made), a tape measure, and some sort of drill/driver (cordless is better, IMHO, but corded will work, too).

Personally, I don't recommend relying on your lumber yard to make the cuts. I've had terrible results at Home Depot and not much better luck at a full-service lumber yard. If you do get someone else to cut your wood, make sure you check it for size AND SQUARENESS before leaving. Home Depot didn't get either right the last time I used them. The full-service lumber yard got the sizes right, but several of the pieces weren't quite square.

If you don't already own the necessary tools, you'll have to factor that into the cost of building your cages. I just helped a buddy build a 42" x 24" x 18" cage: $28 for a 4'x8' sheet of black melamine, $28 for a pair of glass doors, and $10 for the door track. Luckily, I already had glue, caulk, screws, and all of the tools necessary. So around $66 ( tax and shipping) for the materials, plus another $20 or so if you had to buy your own glue, caulk, and screws (though you'd end up with enough of that stuff to build quite a few cages). Quite a bit cheaper than a similarly sized Vision, Boaphile, or other pre-made cage. My friend is planning to add a radiant heat panel (~$65) and a high-quality electronic ballast flourescent fixture (~$30). In the end, he'll have spent $160-170 on the complete cage.

Like anything, there's a time vs. $$$$ trade-off to consider. We saved quite a bit of money, but we also spent quite a bit of time on the project. Significantly more time than it would take to order a pre-made cage and unpack it once it arrived at your house. Ultimately, though, my friend got exactly the cage he wanted: the color he wants, the size he needs for snake and room, etc.

Building a cage/rack is great if: 1) You've got the tools, 2) you're on a budget, 3) you don't need them in a hurry, 4) you don't need a lot of them.

Buying a cage/rack is ideal if: 1) You don't have tools, don't feel confident using them, or just don't like building things, 2) you've got a lot of cash, 3) you need a large number of cages, or you need them in a hurry.

Hey,

After building a rack, I would NEVER purchase another one. They are very easy to build and importantly fun to make! I recently constructed a rack that utilizes 6 containers that are 36x16x6. A similar rack on the market would easily cost $400-500. I built this rack for about $125-140!!

Just give it a try...you'll be amazed at what you can accomplish

VJ

Thanks to everyone who has responded. I went to the hardware store today and looked at what woods/material they had available. With what I have found I think it will be quite possible to make my own racks/cage. Even though I have never done this before there are great step by step instructions that everyone has shown me. I don't have $400 to spend on a rack system so I think that I will try my hand at building my own. Thanks again for everyones imput!!

>>I went to the hardware store today and looked at what woods/material they had available.

My one final suggestion would be to try to find a lumber yard that caters to local custom cabinet shops. They'll have a larger selection of materials, better quality, and prices that are very competitive with the big box home improvement stores...