Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I have been turning the heat down in the cellar (where I keep my animals)to 60 when not down there. Adults are kept in nice large Visions and subadults are kept in a nice AP rack. I have been thinking of maybe turning it down even further. Keeping the Visions adequately/inexpensively warm may be a challenge if I go lower where as the AP enclosed rack with a good Ranco would probably be a peice of cake regardless of what lower temp I went to.(especially with some of that Chris Harper approved refletix stuff LOL)

REALLY makes me wish some one commercially would make a 4'x2' minimum (do I dare? 6'x3'max) rack like the AP racks.That way:

You could keep a good conscience about housing adult colubrids in a rack.

You could keep the ease of maintenance of a rack which leads to healthier animals when their cages are kept clean.

The enclosed black plastic on the top and sides seems to agree with some animals. ( an attractive somewhat viewable front would be nice. Maybe even led subdued lighting? they are usung it in the fish hobby. they are so thin I bet you could incorporate them in the shelf some how.)

If it was modular and realisticly priced you could buy a level at a time and just plug them in as you join them(not all of us are handy like some of you guys LOL)

Seems to me there is a huge market for such a caging option especially with larger colubrids like Pits that REALLY need room, not to mention alot of folks desiring to keep their herps in a large more spacious accomadation.

Oh well....Dream on.....

I agree 100%! I have black rats and they just dont fit in a 23" x 16" x 6" tub. The big Iris 110 boxes would be perfect for this. Make it one level at a time and stackable with a plug and receptacle on each so you could join them as you stack them. $50 to $75 each would be doable considering most 3 hole racks that are around 3' are $200. I would buy them for sure!

Vision has introduced a modular approach for store-bought boxes. It is a frame of modular aluminum supports and shelves with recesses for heat cable. They do up to Iris CB-70 boxes.

The question is, will that design work with larger boxes? I think it certainly could, as the plastic shelving is rigid but could be strengthened by inlaying aluminum rod.

{url]www.herpcages.com[/url] makes a nice CB-70 rack.

Then of course you have the king of large racks - Freedom Breeder.

I seriously doubt you'll see a modular rack made from 1/4" Sintra for large boxes. The material would have to be much thicker or perhaps strengthened with extruded aluminum, which will drive the price or manufacturing time. Or else, the rack would have to come fully assembled, which means a much greater shipping charge. I think Vision and Herpcages.com both have a design that could be modified for even larger boxes.

Mark ,

Here is what you were describing -

Breeder racks made with 3/8" Sintra single or multiple levels roll out slides with hinged tops to them.Heating attaches to the bottom of the units

these are 36x24x7" setups , i have redone the door to make it larger then shown here but the door operates much like the trunk of a 70's car lol has a bent lip front door so that it actually opens into a 3/4 open front and 1/2 open top when fully extended.

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Builder of Professional Reptile Enclosures ,Plastic caging , Standard & Professional Breeder Rack Systems[url=http://www.junglehabitatsplastics.com[/url]

Cages on rails. Nice job and great idea!

You know, it is funny how things come around again. A long long time ago I saw pics of a herproom with old plywood cages that slid out on fixed wood studs, with a top-opening door just like yours. A rack of sorts before racks ever became a part of this hobby. I just remembered that after looking at your design. I'd rather have yours to be sure.

Will you be marketing those? I think they could fill a niche for those of use with fewer snakes that want neat, larger-than-sweaterbox caging in a compact area (without stacking cages - I hate stacking plastic cages more than 2 high.)

I agree with you mark. Stackable, LARGE(feel good about the size) containers for those of us that don't want to keep a lot of animals anymore but want the benifits of a cage with the ease of a rack.

I've never seen the Freedom Breeder 4' Jumbo rack (6 high) in person but it looks close to what I'm thinking but they are so darn expensive and costly to ship. Wish they were black too! I like the idea of something that opens lengthwise too like the FB rack, the 3' variety others make are a lot to pull out to service.

There are ALOT of talented,intelligent, resouceful, forward thinking, practical ,skillfull people here. SOMEBODIES got to have the answer! It's definitely a needed niche to fill.

I was going to post a picture of the 4ft unit but as luck has it my floppy drive crashed like a runaway train lol

The material can be gotten in black thicker but IMHO the price isnt worth it. to me and im not a white cage fan but the white in these has a much nicer look in person then in pictures has that almost "Lab feel" lol .With these you have the luxury of keeping heat & humidity in the cage vs having to do a heated room for the units with the open air design tyo acheive max heating ability on them . Im going to be testing the 6"x35" Ultratherm in the ft unit as a overhead radiant heat panel i love the ultratherms they heat great and cost a little and have a nice durable cord and coating on them. Am also looking to have some 8-10" radiant heat panels made if cost isnt to much on them for the units aswell. The venting on the large unit i have now is a gap under the door on the top held off with rubber bumpers so theres like a 14" x 3/16" air gap there and i havent done it yet but im going to put 2-3" vents in the back on each corner lighting and all can be added to these just like a cage but you can roll them out to clean cages get snakes out and still view them like cages with the clear fronts. I have to get more steel to weld up the rack for the 4ft unit next week but im going to have it welded up by jan 01 if all goes well for posting it .Ill have a new Adrive in the am and wil post the pics of the larger tub its 10" tall vs 7 so has more room
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Builder of Professional Reptile Enclosures ,Plastic caging , Standard & Professional Breeder Rack Systems[url=http://www.junglehabitatsplastics.com[/url]

Cool, Looking forward to seeing more.

Can you purchase just one of the "add-on" levels or do you have to purchase the 3 stack first? I ask because I am very curious about your new slider enclosure, but would like to do a test run first; specifically for P.curtus.
Just curious,
Scott

I realize part of the problem is the middle sagging that occurs when a long box is slid in length wise into a standard type rack instead of sideways but is it possible to use wood like a single large dresser drawer (treated wood for humididty and a smallish glass panel for viewing)? ( then its heavy and unshippable...oh well... never mind.)

Or is that the strength of the steel type of single design like a Freedom breeder level?

Can the box itself be built out of the black plastic instead of using a commercial tub (while also installing a glass viewing area?

I guess if all of these weren't serious roadblocks,what we are looking for would already be out there