Rate my rack. would you pay??? need opinions. this site is good for that.

[ericrs]

hey fellow herpers. i have been pretty busy lately building a modern looking rack system that i think can compete with what the current market has to offer. this is the prototype i built and it turned out really well. i still have to put heat cord (in the post on its way) in and some bump stops at the back to stop draws being slid in to far. but it is coming together really nicely.
i built it in such a way that it can be flat packed and shipped. the only tools required to put it together is a drill for 8-10 self tapping screws.
6mm perspex acts as a lid that is fixed in place. ontop of the perspex is the heat cord that acts as heat for the above tub.
im still considering ventilation options. in the tub or in the lid? or both? in the perspex (lid) means i can get it laser cut making it very neat. and with a 5mm gap to the next tub there should be sufficient airflow.

It should happily hold adult womas and your average sized jungle pythons.
there will be a small 3mm gap between the tub and lid so a lock/clip along the long sides (back and front) preventing the snakes pushing them apart.
in the future i think i will change to vision tubs. they are not as see through but that will reduce stress in the animals.
i think these tubs are a bit too clear.

what are your thoughts?

[yommy]

Great looking concept. My only question will having the tubs sideway give you enough of a gradient for your animals to get a cool spot if required.
I reckon having the tubs the other way round and maybe a double tub per level would work awesome as well. Though i reckon your onto a good concept.

Are they heated from below or only above and how easy is it to fit a thermostat and thermometer too?

From a security point of view is there a way to lock the tubs in? for thieft prevention or children opening caging. Having a good size collection and kids being able to locked them is an option i look for with every caging

[maddog-1979]

that looks awesome mate, maybe castor wheels as well, so it's mobile. or would it be too top heavy?

[Skelhorn]

very professional looking, exactly what you see on Snake Byte (youtube). Good work!

[ericrs]

yea im actually mounting the heat cord on the left or right going front to back so you still get a good gradient. not the traditional heat at the back cool at the front. it the same concept just spun 90 degrees.
there will be a heat cord under each tub so majority will come from that. but as the bottom of 1 tub is also the top of another, so there will be some heat coming from both directions
and yea i also have castor wheels on there way. definatly a must

[TheCheshireCat]

The only thing I would be wary of is that there seems to be no protection on the end of the rails, looks like it may chew a few fingers if the keeper was overzealous with pushing the tubs back in to place. The same could also be said for the bottom "feet" it may chew a few toes of slovenly keepers like myself who don't always wear shoes while doing the rounds.

Apart from that it looks very neat and professional.

P.S how many litres are those tubs?

[HerpAddict]

rate my rack....... boy am i dissapointed....

haha. seriously looks good

[Grogshla]

Looks good mate.
I was going to say perhaps some sort of back and side cover so the tubs don't loose too much heat but I think they will be fine mate!! Well done!
I like that you are putting the heat chord on the left or right. This is something I have looked for in a rack for ages and never found.

[abnrmal91]

Looks great but my guess is the framing (aluminium correct me if I am wrong) would make it fairly expensive to build. Also you may have issues with heat loss, rack system tubs are normally in contact with timber top & bottom as well as being surrounded by timber at the sides of the tub. Just a thought, trialling it may help solve any problems. Good luck.

Cheers Daniel

[dickyknee]

I think sides or backs are important on racks as they tend to lose a lot of heat , especially in winter ...
Looks like a good idea just the same.

[abnrmal91]

Damn you Groshla lol, beat me too it.

[AndrewHenderson]

I like the idea, it's a modern looking rack system. I love steel looks over wood for some reason. You might get a fair bit of heat conducting through the whole sheet of perspex though so incorporate ventilation into that between the heat cord and the rest of the sheet to reduce heat transfer through the whole sheet. I'd run the heat cord up one of the side tubes and onto the perspex to hide it and it will give a better gradient that putting the heat cord along the back. You really need the bottom of the tub getting heated too, heat cord doesn't give a hell of a lot of radient heat to heat from above really. Just keep an open mind and experiment when you get the cord.


They look like 20l starmaids hey?


Andrew

[snake_freak]

Or possibly ikea tubs... they make good rack tubs.

[ericrs]

i think people are getting confused. the heat cord is under each tub. sits 2mm under the tub to be precise. it will zig zag under 1/3 of the tub before going to the next level.

As for closing in the sides. i do agree but all racks i have seen besides melamine built racks like vision and prorack etc all do not have sides. they are completely open. seeing that working successfully made me think it was not necessarily needed.

i cant wait for the heat cord to come so i can start testing the hot spot. im only needing contact heat on the hot end. seeing the other rack setups im pretty confident. vision racks have the heat cord 5-10mm away from the tub and they work great.

and yes the tubs are from ikea. only cheap place around without wheels and flat bottom. but the next tubs will be vision tubs, stiffer, flatter bottom, better sizes, and same price as these ones from ikea.
thanks for all the comments

[JoshuaAtherton]

My penis bought me here.