#snake racks

[saying-odd-shit]

listen im NOT saying that when making venomous snake restriction laws we should NEVER consult hot keepers, but i AM saying that the word of veterinarians and zookeepers should be held to a higher regard than the word of Hotkeeper McFreehandlerson who has 45 inland taipans in tupperware containers

[saying-odd-shit]

dont care didnt ask plus your snakes have 2 inches of headroom and can’t fully extend their spine

[reptilecringe]

Freelancers- If you ever feel like you're overpricing your work just know that this guy does not. Ever

[darkwingduck]

So why have you sworn off secondhand reptile caging, Laurel?

I’m so glad you asked!

I paid a measly $150 each for two four-tub CB70 setups that reportedly were originally made by RBI. (But please don’t take this as a negative indictment of RBI, they’re a fantastic company with great products - I have no idea just how old these racks are, but safe to say they’re old enough that they’re not manufactured anymore, and they were most definitely used.)

Still, everything looked good when I bought them. It wasn’t until I got the things home that I started having problems.

First, they broke. Literally broke. Both of them.

The back and sides are all one long piece with grooves machined into it where you bend the sides into place. The long pieces I picked up were laid out flat and looked fine. When I got them home and tried to set them up for the first time, one side on each of the racks literally broke off at the groove when I tried to fold them in to put them together. Problem number one.

I solved problem number one by the fact that just adding the shelves and screwing them in holds the whole thing together just fine, but I have to turn the thing on its side to get the shelves in and it’s tricky. Giant pain and more complicated than it needs to be.

Problem number two: the four-inch heat tape that came with the racks didn’t fit in the grooves machined in the shelves. It hung over the edges and wouldn’t recess into the grooves. The heat tape was exactly four inches. The recessed grooves were just sliiightly under four inches. I have no idea why. Problem number two solution: I dropped another $45 on new heat tape, three-inch this time to get it to fit.

Problem number three: the shelves and back are enclosed, and as a CB70 rack the grooves for the heat tape are recessed way at the back of the shelves where I can’t easily reach to tape it down, so I had to take the racks apart and put them back together again to install the new heat tape. Once again dealing with the broken sides.

Things I have learned from this:

I would rather pay extra and buy new than risk getting something used that might inexplicably break.

Buying used is no guarantee you will save money, because you may end up having to replace components of the caging.

I am never getting the enclosed type of racks again, Animal Plastics’ economy line with open sides and back for easy access to the heating element are the way of the future. (This is just personal preference but still.)

You get what you pay for.

You can cut yourself on aluminum foil tape. Like annoying little paper cuts on your fingertips.

Once put together, the racks seem okay, secure and everything and solid, and I have good thermostats on them. But I’m really tempted to buy an AP rack next year just out of sheer frustration. I wouldn’t want to have to take these things apart again if I have to move, for example. I don’t think they’d survive it.

[darkwingduck]

heat tape

One last question for reptiblr about heat tape - are you supposed to use tape small enough to fit completely inside the grooves on your rack shelves, or is it supposed to go over the grooves so there’s air space underneath?

This is the last time I buy secondhand caging, I’m not pleased with having to cobble stuff together from different sources instead of just getting everything packaged at one time and knowing it’s meant to be used together. The hassle’s really not worth it.

Question mark to enable answers -> ?

[darkwingduck]

Ugh. I put my snake racks together yesterday, only to discover the heat tape doesn’t freakin’ fit the grooves. It’s too big, so the tubs scrape on it. The previous owner might have been okay with the risk but I’m not. Meaning I have to drop some cash on new heat tape, wait for it to come in, disassemble then reassemble the racks with the right heat tape. :|

I felt like a doofus trying to get these things set up. Can you tape down heat tape to make sure it stays in place in a rack? With what kind of tape? And where should the tape go? Please give a frustrated girl a hand, reptiblr.

[the-splendid-serpent-blog]

So we looked at the racks

...and then we bought two racks. :D They're homemade but definitely modeled after AP's economy racks, specifically the 1753 (10), which hold 10 32qt tubs or 20 15qt tubs. They're 1/4" white pvc and I'm just really impressed with them. They have belly heat and are full of 15qts, and the guy also gave us some extra 32s he had. AND a pretty nice infrared temp gun. aND a VE-300 thermostat with a VE-100 backup. and some other misc stuff he was going to pitch like craft paper tub liners and some random under tank heaters. I'm gonna take pictures once I clean and rearrange the snake room and get them installed; hopefully that will be finished tomorrow. I also kinda wanna calculate exactly how much everything would be new and compare it with what I paid because we got a bad ass deal and I'm very excited. :D