Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Hello everyone...

At the moment I have a modest collection of herps ( 8 species ) all housed in glass terraria. I'd like to expand a bit, try breeding a few things, etc....

And I realize that the tub racks are by far the most space efficient way of doing so.

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When I look online, I see people selling these racks for $200 or much more.
Now am I missing something here? Are these not just shelves, a heat tape in the back, and sized to hold plastic tubs?

I've seen the prices for wood, tubs, and heat tape...it doesn't seem like it would add up to all that much.

Can someone clue me in here?

you dont see many racks online made of wood do you? most racks that you can buy online are made of a heavy duty plastic than can cost in excess of $100 per 4' by 8' sheet. If you were to build a rack of the exact same size as most online rack builders it would probably cost you almost the same. you also have to figure in the time it takes to make the rack, pack it for shipping, etc.
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0.1 "Tremper" looking Albino Leopard gecko (Lex)
0.0.1 tiger crested gecko (peachs)
1.1 Feral cats that we adopted (Fuzzy, and Bear)

My image Gallery

Yeah, I've seen some made of plastics, but not all. Looks like I'm just seeing Melamine.

The better ones (ones made by companies) are usually all plastic. But yes it is probably MUCH cheaper to make a rack out of melamine than to buy one.
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0.1 "Tremper" looking Albino Leopard gecko (Lex)
0.0.1 tiger crested gecko (peachs)
1.1 Feral cats that we adopted (Fuzzy, and Bear)

My image Gallery

Using 3/4 melamine to make a rack will cost you approximately $25.00 per 4'x8' sheet retail cost.(3/4" is the most commonly used and available diameter)

Now the average cost of plastics used for racks.
1/4" pvc runs anywhere from $45.00-$70.00 per 4'x8' sheet
1/2" polypropylene will run on average $95.00-$110.00 per 4'x8' sheet. So you can see why making your own out of melamine is very cost effective, where as making it out of plastic material is quite expensive unless you can get it from a reliable supplier for wholesale prices. As far as melamine racks running in the $200.00 range, that is a rip off unless they are going to stock the tubs with snakes for you as well.lol
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Randall L Turner Jr.
www.aircapitalconstrictors.com
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thanks for that link to the thread on your sites forum about the 4' by 2' cage. I am gonna build it sometime, for a BP and a single/pair of ackies. Helped a lot.
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0.1 "Tremper" looking Albino Leopard gecko (Lex)
0.0.1 tiger crested gecko (peachs)
1.1 Feral cats that we adopted (Fuzzy, and Bear)

My image Gallery

no post
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Randall L Turner Jr.
www.aircapitalconstrictors.com
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The era of melamine caging was a sad one. Many of the cages/racks on the market were shoddily built and had less than $50 worth of material wrapped up in them.

You are correct... there is not much to them. Many people found that they could take a picture to a local cabinet shop and have a rack or cage built much less expensively than the pre-shipping costs of the cage manufacturers.

The prices for plastic caging don't bother me as much given some of the specialized jointery techniques.

If you want a melamine rack do not hesitate to contact a local cabinet shop or specialized lumber yard to cut the material for you. You could almost certainly assemble a 7 tier sweater box rack for less than $100 provided you could find the right size box.

I do not necessarily recommend that you have the material cut by Home Depot or Lowes. My main concern with them is that they have told me that they are not allowed to clamp a stop to their panel saw in order to guarantee consistent cuts.

Hey,

Not so long ago I built a rack out of melamine. After that experience I would never invest money in a plastic rack. It's so easy to make!

The rack I built holds seven tubs that measure 34"x16"x6". I purchased pre-fab melamine boards at home depot and didn't have to make one cut! It took about 2 hours to assemble, and cost about $125. A similar size plastic rack would have cost me about $400 .

The melamine looks good and is very sturdy. Yes, it's heavier than plastic, but it's not something I'm moving around on a daily, weekly, or even monthly basis

Vake J.