Reptile & Amphibian Forums

So, some people told me not to go with the plastic home-depot
style racks, as they are not "escape-proof". Well, with a little
tweeking, i was able to turn (2) $15.00 racks into an escape-proof
system,
including flexxwatt and temp-control, for under 100$.

I bought 2 racks with 6 drawers each, and since they are fully
compatible with eachother, i clipped the bottom of one to the top
of the other, basically just making it extra tall.

The rack(s) came with wheels, making it mobile, and now almost
fully completed (minus the heating), the rack weighs less than
30 pounds, with the snakes and waterbowls inside!

here is the finnished product:

as you can see, i screwed in eye-loops for the locks, and put some
holes in the front for ventilation.

here is a shot of one of the sides of the rack, completely reinforced with
metal screening, and although there is no way a snake could squeeze out
of the drawer systems (as i have them set up now), one could possibly sneak
by if the drawer is part way open...while cleaning, etc.. but not anymore!

shot of the back - plywood painted black and screwed into the plastic, the flexwatt
arrives tommorow and (12) 6-inch pieces with be aluminum-taped to the inside wood,
wired, and fed through into a dimmer-switch with boxed screwed into place wich in turn
will be plugged into an outlet.

picture of the aluminum tape, dimmer switch... and a few of the 8 copperheads
who will useing these quarters..

the drawers have 1/8 inch holes drilled all around the bottom edge of each
drawer, for extra ventilation.

inside each drawer, the bottom part of each over-head plastic piece has
been taped with electrical tape, all the way around, to seal off the "gaps"
that were previously there. Doing this for each of the 12 pieces of plastic
took the longest to do, but i feel this was the most important part, as to
make sure there is no way the snakes can squeeze through. The drawers
now fit more snugg then before, and there is no space for even a neonate
to push there way through..

I dont know, just thought some people might be interested i nseeing. After attaching
the flexwatt, i will take some more pics, and post them.

thanks to those who gave me input, suggestions and left comments as well

AK

What did you have to do to make the drawers each escape proof. I didn't catch that in your post. Were there gaps around them?
-----
(¯`·.¸¸.·´Kane`·.¸¸.·´¯)

hard to explain...

you have to see it to understand, i attempted to explain it with the last photo/part..

if you have seen the home-depot racks, you would see where the gaps are..

i basicvally just wrapped each outer-colum with electrical tape, and cut it to size so it wouldnt peel..

everything appears to be good, none can get out, im sure of it..

and if by some chance they squeezed through, they would remain encased in the outer screening

here is a pic of my old setup..

(retro slate bottomed tanks with custom wood & screen hinged tops)

it was too big, heavy, and dificult to clean.. my new racks are working great, and i recomend anyone willing to put some time into this idea to try it..

the tape works great and it only took 7 or so rolls of 47 cent tape, but even if you spent an extra 40$, you could probbly buy enough bondo to fill in the gaps and make it even better,

but im broke..

best
AK

The real worry I would have is when you pull a tub out it leaves an opening for the snake in the tub beneath it. Have you considered getting some 1/8" plexi or .100" expanded pvc sheets to cut and lay beneath each tub to help prevent this problem? I hope none of them get out and I especially hope you don't get tagged if one does..

Later
-----
Randall L Turner Jr.
www.aircapitalconstrictors.com
.

i thought of doing the exact same thing... the heat tape didnt arrive today, and i work tommorow.. but on thursday or so i will be taking my last trip to the lowes (hopefully) to get the wire... and a piece of plexiglass.. all i need is one piece, for cleaning one drawer at a time...

but really, right now, when i clean them i just pull the drawer out most of the way... and they could potentially crawl up, but would have no where to go... but to get "stuck"..

my origional idea consisted of actually attaching hinged pieces of plexiglass to the top of each drawer, so you actually had to take the drawers out (or most of the way anyways) to have acess to the snakes..

but this = lots more time and lots more $$

thanks for the suggestions ,as always
AK