Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I definitely didn't think this out enough. I'm up to about $500 on this rack. I'm always reading these posts looking for ideas and I see guys all the time talking about how theirs only ran them about $150. Somebody please tell me I'm not the only one whose rack cost so much to build!

What size / type rack are you building ?
what all is being used heat wise etc etc ?
and what materials are you using ?

lastly i hope that for $500 you are able to house a butt load in it lol
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Buisnesses come and go everyday, what keeps you here is how you treated the customer the day before....My Boa Can Kick Your Boas _ss!www.cheapcages.com

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edited sig file 2/8/05

Bryan,

There's nothing wrong with spending $500 on a DIY rack if you're getting features you want. Perhaps lightweight, portability, or the ability to break the rack down.

And before I forget, I always list the cost of my rack without boxes. I assume that's a given and that most DIY-ers already have boxes they need to get into a rack.

But when you're comparing money saved vs. a commercial rack you do need to take the boxes into account.

But with that said, one does need to be careful about what features they want/need on a rack and make sure the cost in warranted.

The one thing I'm very careful about is utilizing material well, going over dimensions, etc. making sure I'm wasting as little as possible.

So how many tubs and of what size will your rack hold? How is it heated and is the thermostat included in the cost?
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Current snakes:

0.2 Gonyosoma oxycephala - (Silver/Yellow)

3.3 Gonyosoma oxycephala - (Green)

2.1 Gonyosoma janseni - (Black)

3.3 Gonyosoma janseni - (Black & Tan)

I built 4 oak display cages with a furnature grade finish, it ended up costing me close to $1,000.... and I got all the oak trim for free. Of course that price includes 4 RHP's ($300)

But as they said, it all depends on the features you want.
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-Chris

The reason mainstream thought is thought of as a stream is because it's so shallow. -George Carlin

A fool doesn't learn. A smart man learns from his mistakes. A wise man learns from the mistakes of others. Which one are you?

My Website
N. American Rat/Corn snake care sheet I wrote
Information on substrates

Current snakes:
0.1 Licorice Stick Black Rat (Lola)
1.0 Black Rat (Frankie)
0.1 Texas Bairdi (Rosa)
0.1 Blue Beauty (Brunhilde)
1.0 Green Tree Python (Monty)

It's pretty big. I'm at work, so I don't have exact sizes but it'll hold 20 adult ball pythons and 4 something else's up to about 7', probably male boas. I used a higher quality vinyl from a sign shop instead of contact paper, doubled up the reflectix on the back and added rails allowing for a stinking air space , and my figure includes the tubs, heat tape, t-stat. I guess it's not bad. I've been told freedom breeder units of a similar size are 3 or 4x more. Plus I have a sheet of plywood leftover. I also went with a fir (remember that post?) instead of pine and sealed the crap out of it. I guess I didn't do too bad. My next one will be alot better!

...........i recently had a cabinet shop cut the pieces for a rack i'm building,it has 10 levels,shelfs are 18x35 (3 sheets melamine).the cut pcs. came to $121 and $80 for heat tape.so i'll have screws,metal tape,tubs and a stat to add in.have fun!

Bryan,

24 levels is a pretty big rack. It also sounds like you're using a pretty large box. That tends to make racks a bit more expensive to build. See the post from later today about buying vs. building to read more about that.

Think of it this way, it's only about $20 per box.

Now some questions/comments.

>>I used a higher quality vinyl from a sign shop instead of contact paper,

Tell me more about this. Is it sticky-backed? How much did it cost? I may e-mail you about this. I'm VERY interested.

>>... doubled up the reflectix on the back

Oops. Doubling up Reflectix will have little bearing on how well it insulates. This information is on their website. Take a layer off and use it for another project.

>> ... and my figure includes the tubs, heat tape, t-stat.

That's really not bad. In fact, quite good!

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Current snakes:

0.2 Gonyosoma oxycephala - (Silver/Yellow)

3.3 Gonyosoma oxycephala - (Green)

2.1 Gonyosoma janseni - (Black)

3.3 Gonyosoma janseni - (Black & Tan)

Yes, the vinyl is sticky backed. It's what they would use to put business hours on a store's front door or local elections signs on the sides of roads, things like that. It's guaranteed for 5 years in an outdoor application. My girlfriend works for a graphic supply company so I can get you any info you would like.

Bryan,

I did a bit of searching last night.

Ask her what punched and unpunched mean?

And if the year rating has more to do with UV resistance or just general water/abrasion resistance.

Does she think a 9 year product would be better for our use than a 5 year product?

Thanks.

Chris
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Current snakes:

0.2 Gonyosoma oxycephala - (Silver/Yellow)

3.3 Gonyosoma oxycephala - (Green)

2.1 Gonyosoma janseni - (Black)

3.3 Gonyosoma janseni - (Black & Tan)

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