I would like to build a rack system for my adult Ball Pyhton's. I want to use large tubs (42qt), hence the question about lighter wood materials. Any advise, comments, suggestions are welcome.
Thanks in advance,
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Di 
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Are there other wood products lighter than Melamine?
dcvthekid
May 03, 2004 12:20 PM
Replies (2)
chris_harper2
May 03, 2004 12:35 PM
Most wood products are lighter than melamine. Unfortunately not all of them stay as straight as melamine over time so you need to be careful.
If you want to build a typical rack and not get "fancy" you could use 3/4" plywood for the shelves. Make sure you get plywood with traditional or standard core. Many plywoods today use an MDF core that adds a lot of weight.
I recommend birch due to the smoothness on both sides.
For the sides of the rack I recommend cutting strips of leftover plywood for vertical support. This does make assembly a bit more tricky. To maintain heat fill in the gaps with pieces of polystyrene insulation.
If you want the simple assembly of solid sides then switch to 1/2" plywood to save more weight. This will still make for a very heavy rack.
Either way I recommend you build your rack without a back. Instead use the polystyrene insulation for your back piece.
Here is a picture of a rack I threw together one night to quarantine a group of imported Gonyosoma. The boxes were about 32"x16"x13".
The underside of the shelves were sealed with cheap rubberized contact paper. The stuff you line drawers with.
The battery died on my drill so I was forced to put this together with mostly nails and glue rather than counter-sunk screws. This rack held up fine for months and even survived a 700 mile move in the back of a U-Haul. In fact it even "survived" a flood where it spent an entire day underwater. When I say survived I mean it was still together and solid. The shelves had swollen too much to make the rack usable.
What I'm getting at is that this design is pretty durable although a pain in the arse to assemble by yourself 
chris_harper2
May 03, 2004 12:39 PM
To save even more weight one could make frames out of 3"-4" strips of plywood. The opening of each frame can be covered with recessed screen or peg board.
If you use strips of plywood for your vertical supports this makes for a much lighter rack. They are also quite a bit cheaper. But I'm not sure this design worth the extra effort.
