Reptile & Amphibian Forums

not like i really need the information now, but .. i will eventually be building a rack to house the offspring when i attempt to breed my pair. i want to determine how many tubs to use. most boa racks i see online tend to have an average of 16 tubs. is this a good average of clutch size. i know a large variable is the size of the female. the female will be about six feet and it will be her first clutch. just looking for any imput as to how many tubs to include in the rack.
thank you in advance.

I'd build a rack to hold 30 offspring, I'd say an average litter would be 20 babies give or take.. Doesn't hurt to be over prepared and it won't cost much more..
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Joe Lydon

Hey Joe, I thought the same way, and maybe I could use some pointers on this but here is my 2 cents anyway....

I tried building units that would hold 32 and also one that held 40, the one that holds 40 came out beautiful but now sits in the garage collecting dust....heres why.

I have a hard time getting the proper heat gradient on a rack that size. I heat my room to 83-85 and like a gradient to 90 during day, but there always seems to be some airflow that keeps lower tubs at the 80 - 82 mark, and that causes me to try and raise heat and then top tubs are too hot.

I settled in on some rack sizes that are 16 tubs and that size seems alot easier to regulate.

If I could be doing something different to fix my problem please comment, but this is what I setteled with for my situation. Hope this helps. Andy Federico

for your larger racks where your having the heat problem, you could add more heating element (another row of tape). and use this to adjust the heat level.
or
you could put the troublesome levels on their own dimmer/thermostat and just have them adjusted a part from the upper levels.
or
you could just raise the entire rack by putting it on a stand or something. i know this one might not work due to height issues with the rack and the celing.

i think the problem would lie in the fact that heat rises, and not only are the upper levels being heated by the bottom levels, your room itself (since you heat the room to your base temp) probably has a vertical temp. gradient.

just tryin to help since you guys have been helpin me.
i think i am going to end up building a 16 tub rack due to size for the first clutch, and have extra tubs if i need them, then build a second 16 tub rack after if i find the space nessicary and available. thanks again.

I appreciate your comments....

I thought of those things as well, but also another factor that I had not mentioned was that space was also very limited...so useing the smaller rack size and keeping them wider rather than taller allows me counter top work space. I pull the tub out and set it on the top of rack and this works great for me.

Thanks again, Andy Federico

well at least you got something that works for you now. i think i may also go that route with wider racks. we will see what space allows.

Ouch, let me clarify... I only meant to build more space than you think you'll need.. I'd say 16 is thinking small and you're gonna need more space, but maybe you'll be lucky.. Or is less unlucky?? lol I've got a rack that holds twenty four 6qt tubs and is pretty small.. I haven't found much of a difference in from top to bottom, maybe a degree or two, but I heat the back of it with two seperate waterbed heaters thermostat controlled and they equally cover the whole back wall... Andy, I'm sure you've got a ton more experience at this than I do.. Smaller racks do seem more logical.. Good luck this year..
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Joe Lydon

6qrts for a baby boa? i was going to use something like 27qrts, but if i use 15qrt tubs i can deffiantely fit more in the same space. would 15qrts be large enough for baby boas?

15 qt. will be fine, you can use 28qt almost up to yearling size. I use 12 qt for my new borns and move them when needed. Craig

thank you. i wasnt expecting people to reply to a post so far down.
how long will 15qt be good for. i was going by the one square foot per foot of snake rule and the 15qt only gave like 1.5 square feet so i went up to the next size which was the 28qt which was something like 3 square feet.

i will only be keeping the babies till all but two are sold so permanent housing is not what im looking for.

It really depends how much you feed, but I would think 6 mos out of a 15qt. as long as you are not really pounding them food. You may want to get your larger rack ready for the keepers though, they tend to get fed a little bit more. Craig

Those are baby ball pythons in that 24 tub rack.. I was just explaining I haven't had a problem equally heating a rack with a large number of tubs.. Sorry..
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Joe Lydon