snake rack prices or building your own?

I have been looking for good shelving for all of the little rubbermaid boxes that are building up in my bedroom. All I have right now are heavy-duty wire/metal shelves with wide spacing between, so I end up stacking the boxes. I found someone selling used snake racks but he wants me to make an offer on them. Would anyone mind taking a look at the racks and giving me an idea what I should offer for either rack A or rack C? They can be seen at http://www.simplysnakes.com/main.htm .

Or - is there anywhere I can find instructions for building my own? How difficult is it to make a custom rack without lots of power tools or a workshop?

thanks so much! Charlene

There is a great thread over in the husbandry section:

http://www.cornsnakes.com/forums/showthread.php?t=6027

It really helped me build my own, though you still need to have access to a table saw at the minimum, or at least get the guys at Home Depot (or wherever you go) to cut everything to size for you.

If you would want to buy one of those racks, I would guess they would cost at least $200. Melamine is expensive and those are huge racks he has there.

The rack I recently built was a shoebox rack that holds 25 boxes. It measures approx (I'm trying to remember off the top of my head here) 4' long x 1.5' deep x 3' high. Including the boxes and heat tape, it cost me a little under $100, but I used MDF rather than melamine on mine. MDF is basically melamine without the white protective covering.

that's what happens when you get your shelves to long, they sag in the middle and create gaps for snakes to escape.

IMO/ your better off building it yourself and you learn something in the process. I also find that it is better to make several racks that house one large or two medium boxes per shelf than one rack that holds mutliple boxes per shelf.

Russ

This rack cost me about $50 to build with flexwatt routered into the shelving.
This is for hatchlings. At one year they go into the next size Stearlite. I'm working on an adult rack now with full size sweater boxes 14 high one across.

nice rack. I took a trip to lowes with hubby to discuss building a rack, and the rack part certainly looks do-able. What I am concerned about now is the flexwatt. I have never put together heat tape before (and the under tank heaters at the pet store are outrageous, I think I paid $25 for a small one for one ten gallon tank.) Is there a problem with electrical issues with heat tape? What is the risk of those things catching on fire if your do-it-yourself vs buying ready-made heating devices?

charlene

Unfortionately, there are problems with any heating device. I have been using the flexwatt for several years without a problem. I'm careful not to abraid it as it is recessed into the shelf and it also needs to have air exchange around it. I have seen pictures on the web where flexwatt has supposedly burnt out. I use a 600W light dimmer with mine.

as panda said there are problems with any heating device as well as with every rack system. we have been using racks for many years and have a variety of different racks made from different manufacturers. the one i recommend the most would be from habitat systems, they are quite expensive, but they are definately worth it. there is no bowing in the system which is very important with corn snakes and the heating provided is perfect and easy. check it out. www.kingsnake.com has a link that you can check it out from. good luck.

Tom Burke

here is the website for habitat systems. http://www.habitatsystemsltd.com/
good stuff, check it out.

well depending on how handy you are (and my wife will tell you im not lol) you may find it better to just buy a rack. an issue i have seen with alot of the home made racks is that they are made of materials that will not stand up to humidity thous rotting.

this is a link to a company that has some nice racks http://nsreptiles.com/plasticracks.html

there are a few more links i could share if you would like......hope that helps a bit