Killer rack build

[SAHerper]

Hi everyone,
I have been a long time reader but never posted.

I have been researching for months and about to start my snake rack build. I am going to use aluminium frame and incorporate slide rails to hang the tubs. I’ll post pictures along the way but any advice would also be appreciated.

Heating!!!???
Has anyone tried a watertight frame and heating throughout the rack. I was involved in 90acres of glasshouse which we heated via tubular rails that also doubled as the picking trolley rails. With the large thermal mass it was much easier to maintain accurate temperatures.

I am looking forward to the journey

 

[Bluetongue1]

…Heating!!!???

Has anyone tried a watertight frame and heating throughout the rack. I was involved in 90acres of glasshouse which we heated via tubular rails that also doubled as the picking trolley rails. With the large thermal mass it was much easier to maintain accurate temperatures. …

Don’t wish to rain on your parade, but my immediate thoughts are that this form of heating would not really work with a reptile rack system. Using water in pipes is not uncommon in underfloor home heating in Europe. In both instances one is dealing with a large volume of relatively captive air being heated to a common temperature. This is not the case with reptiles, which require a thermal gradient in a small volume of changing (ventilated) air. It also means losing flexibility to alter temps for individual enclosures within the system. This may be especially important if there is a transfer of heat from enclosures below to those above. Nor would the economies of scale in heating houses this way be there in heating a rack system. I don’t even see it working if you restricted the heating to just one end of each rack in your setup. Sorry about playing devil’s advocate here.

 

[SAHerper]

Thanks bluetongue1, I’ll take that out of the plan and move on.

When using racks do you heat each tub individually or do you use the cord beneath each tub throughout the rack.

Ill post a pic tomorrow of my first prototype and see what you guys think