Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I'm looking to invest in some new housing for ADULT sized Brazilian rainbows and obviously I want to do it right. I'm just wondering what everyone else here is using, what you recommend, and why? Do you prefer rack systems with tubs on wheels, belly heat, what size tubs, etc.? Ease of cleaning and reliability are important! I'd really appreciate your feedback and advice. Thanks in advance.

Well, there is no one correct answer. A lot depends on how many you are keeping, if you are breeding, is space a concern etc. etc. and of course budget is always a concern.

I prefer cages for adults that are breeding. So much easier to look into the cage and see if there is cleaning required. Also I don't want to have to pull a tub and make the earth move to check to see what the pair is doing. Of course cages tend to take up more space. Size is minimum 2' x 2' x 18" That is for one adult. Better would be 3' x 2' x 18" I also have some in 11" tall cages but that eliminates vertical arrangement of cage furnishing. Some of my cages I built myself, others I bought from boaphileplastics.com Some that more asthetic (and of course more pricey) are Showcasecages.com One other supplier that comes to mind is Animalplastics.com All three have various size cages and options.

For heating in a cage I really like Radiant Heat Panels controlled by Herpstat thermostats. They make a four channel one that works great.

If you want tubs, Animal plastics can make a tub rack for Iris CB110 tubs. I don't think it's on their website but I had them make four ten high racks for me several years back.
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Thanks,

Dave Colling

www.rainbows-r-us-reptiles.com

0.1 Wife (WC and still very fiesty)
0.2 kids (CBB, a big part of our selective breeding program)

LOL, to many snakes to list, last count (02/01/2010):
42.61 BRB
27.40 BCI
And those are only the breeders

lots.lots.lots feeder mice and rats

I've got a few Animal Plastic racks of various sizes already, from babies to subadult, and I like them a lot. I've never used the back heat on them though, since I heat the entire room, which isn't cheap. I am buying a Herpstat 4 to regulate temps but I'm not sure if I want to buy a humidity probe for it since that would only measure one bin. Where I manually mist each one individually, one bin would not be representative of them all.
I've had Vision cages of all different shapes and sizes as well as Boaphiles for BCI, which I no longer keep. None of these were ideal for rainbow boas, however. I may go with AP again, but there are so many people making less expensive cages and rack systems out there nowadays, I thought there may be a bargain out there I'm not aware of. I'll need at least 8-10 bins, and I agree, it makes sense to be large enough to house breeding pairs.

I think I would use a heat source instead of heating the entire room. A heat source, weather back, under belly or radiant will set up a natural temperature gradient in the enclosure, which is important for the BRBs. In addition these types of heating systems don’t draw as much power as you would think. Thus, your power bill may be less than if you are trying to heat an entire room separate from the rest of your home.
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John Wiseman
www.rainbowsbydesign.com

18.30 BRBs (as of 6-20-2012)
3.8 others

No doubt it will be much cheaper to heat racks individually, which I plan on doing once I'm set up with the new thermostat. Thanks for replying.

How do you guys maintain humidity with the racks and tub systems? Do you individually mist or do you have some other system to provide humidity. Everyone says that the humidity is crucial. Just wondering because I am facing the issue now. Cage or Rack?

I individually mist each tub at least once a day. I try and avoid saturating the substrate by spraying just enough, rather than to much. If I had a huge amount of animals to care for, or I had to be away often, then a misting system might be called for.

I would agree with Dave on the cages, I use 2’ X 3’ (floor space) boaphiles. I am using under belly heat but I think that the radiant heat panels are probable better. I prefer the RANCO thermostats that allow for a 6-outlet power strip. I stack the boaphiles six high and use one thermostat per stack. Jeff sells the RANCO thermostats through his website (boaphileplastics.com) however I just wire my own to save a few dollars. I have a stack of 2’ X 4’ that I will put 1.2 BRBs for breeding.

I do use a rack system for babies through sub adults simply because they don’t need that much space and it is easier to clean out.
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John Wiseman
www.rainbowsbydesign.com

18.30 BRBs (as of 6-20-2012)
3.8 others

I think what you're asking has as much to do with personal taste as anything,along with how many you plan to keep, but I'll toss out what I have anyways.

BRB's for me are one of my most enjoyable animals for having displayed for me to see and because of that I will try to keep adults in larger glass front cages. Babies, subadults and the occasional adult if I want one out of a breeding group (or a female who's just given birth that I may be feeding a little more often for example) will all be in racks. I do keep a couple of tubs in one of my racks empty specifically specifically to use for feeding animals that are normally housed in community caging.

All my racks have belly or back heat to them, one of my larger display cages has belly heat in it, the others have radiant heat panels. Personally, I like the belly heat because even though the panels aren't as bad as heat lamps, I still feel like they flood a cage with heat more than a large piece of flexwatt under the cage floor...just a personal preference, I do have both, and both do work.

Obviously the number of animals kept will dictate how much space you can give to any of them, I don't see myself ever keeping more than 10-12 adult BRB's simply because I enjoy a variety of animals too much. I will probably end up with 4-6 display cages by the time I'm done for BRB's, along with a couple each for woma's and BHP's...that means a lot of space though.

One thing I do like with my large display type cages, is I also have an automated misting system hooked up to them. I don't know how well that would work with racks...it might work just fine other than needing more misting nozzles.

Good luck with it whichever way you decide to go!
Charlie

Thanks Charlie and all who've responded. I have plenty of space available and capital to invest. I'm most concerned about the health and safety of my collection than anything. I've heard to many stories of do it yourself set ups causing fires or animals getting burned from thermostats staying on, etc. I thought there maybe some latest and greatest easy to maintain set up out 4 out of 5 breeders may recommend but it seems everyone has different needs.
The reason why I went with back heat for my smaller racks was I thought the thermal gradient would be better from front to back of the bins vs. a heat source smack in the middle with nowhere to go except the perimeter of the enclosure. I do think I'll go with something taller than I'm used to since these guys do like to climb. I guess there's no silver bullet everyone's using lol.

I have most of my breeding pairs in Boaphile cages. I have some that are 3'x2'x11", and I have some that are 2'x2'x18". While I love the visibility afforded by the more cube shaped cages, my boas can't tip their water tubs over in the flatter cages, lol! When I can afford more caging, I will be buying more of the 3'x2'x11" cages.

I also have lone adults, and sometimes a breeding pair or two, in racks using the largest under-bed tub sold at Target. I build my own racks around these, and they work great! I really like them a lot for single adults.

All of my growing BRBs are in appropriate sized racks.
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Aubrey Ross

www.SlipstreamSerpents.com

I ordered a 10 high Iris 900 rack system from Animal Plastics with dual 11" flex watt side heat. These tubs are three feet deep and this was their recommended heating system. I'll give it a try and see how it works out.

I have four of the CB110 version of this rack. Slightly larger tubs at rack size 40" x 20". They're working great for me!!
-----
Thanks,

Dave Colling

www.rainbows-r-us-reptiles.com

0.1 Wife (WC and still very fiesty)
0.2 kids (CBB, a big part of our selective breeding program)

LOL, to many snakes to list, last count (02/01/2010):
42.61 BRB
27.40 BCI
And those are only the breeders

lots.lots.lots feeder mice and rats

Yeah, I mentioned that tub size to AP, but I would have had to settle for less tubs per rack and it would cost me a fortune in substrate lol. I know a lot of people use newspaper or similar paper products, but I'm not one of them.
If this doesn't cut it, I can always upgrade to the CB110's. The only thing against this set up is I will not have great visibility of courting/breeding action without gently sliding open bins to see. My experience has always been, the animals are going to do what they're going to do, one way or another, whether I see them or not. I do my best NOT to interfere with them during the mating process.