A few weeks ago I posted a message looking for feedback on racks. I immediately got the "Oh no, not again" response because this topic has been brought up so often. I found some useful information but not everything that I was looking for. I started to contact the various builders / suppliers that everyone recommended. I also contacted friends about their racks.. I had a list of features that I wanted and some very specific requirements. I was going to be spending a fair amount of cash, over $1000. The racks had to meet all my requirements, guaranteed. I didn't want to end up using them for a short time and then selling them for a huge loss only to have start all over again. A one time purchase.
The material had to be durable. No melamine.
If I did damage the rack, I wanted to be able to make a permanent fix and not have to ship it back. User replaceable parts.
The heating element had to be user replaceable. Just in case it burned out or failed.
The boxes had to be the same ones I'm already using. I've got a fair amount of money invested in sterilite boxes so I can do a complete change out. I didn't want to have to buy new ones or worry about the company discontinuing a specific model / size box.
The shelves had to be consistently spaced so any box will fit in any slot. No spilling of water bowls every time you slide out a box.
The air gap between the top of a box and the shelf above it had to be large enough to let boxes slide out easily, allow for good ventilation, and be small enough to prevent any of my snakes from escaping.
That's just a few of features/requirements that I was looking for.
I was totally shocked when 2 builders / suppliers failed to communicate beyond email. Even when we scheduled times for phone calls. I personally cannot afford to walk away from a sale of $1300. I guess those guys are just doing this for fun. Mark and Ali of AP Cages accepted and returned all of my phone calls and emails. Excellent communication, even after hours.
Marks design is really nice. All the little touches that make the difference. Real time consuming details. I've built and even re-built some racks. If I bought a nice table saw, a few extra clamps, and a few sheets of maple / birch plywood I could have built my own racks. I would NOT have ended up with racks as nice as the ones I received from AP Cages. The racks are easy to assemble and can be disassembled and reassembled without any problems. A nice feature if a move is in your future. Every shelf is secured with 6 screws and every shelf fits into a dado slot on three sides not just the right and left side. The back panel has dado slots for each shelf and fits into the sides, top, and bottom. This makes for a very solid, rigid design, with little to no flex. I've put some big balls into a few boxes and the shelves don't sag down. That means the box below still slides out without spilling the water bowl. After speaking to Mark about heating I opted for the indirect belly heat. I've used flexwatt before and like it so I had my doubts about using a heat cable. The indirect belly heat uses heat cable that fits into a T-slot in each shelf and the sides of the rack. You snake it through larger holes on the sides of each shelf and then insert it into the T-slot. Nice, really nice. This heats the shelf and makes for a real nice gradient. I've been checking the temps daily, front and rear of a couple of boxes, in each of the racks. Good even heat and a nice gradient
Obviously I am very happy with my new racks. Everything I was hoping for but there is one more very important bit of information. CUSTOMER SERVICE, CUSTOMER SATISFACTION. Mark and Ali provide excellent customer service and fully understand customer satisfaction. My first shipment was trashed by Fed-Ex. Not every shelf was damaged but there was enough damage for me to be concerned. Mark built ALL new racks for me and rushed them out to me. No waiting for Fed-Ex to settle the claim, no delays, no excuses, and no additional cost to me such as shipping. That's customer service and I am one very satisfied customer.
If your looking for new racks or cages or even just thinking about purchasing in the near future, give Mark or Ali a call. You'll be glad you did.
Thanks for reading this long post. Please feel free to email me with any questions.
John Q
