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Animal Plastics and Reptile Basics Racks

ZoologyGirl

ZoologyGirl

Under Tank Heather
I have a question about some of the racks on those sites.

At AP I'm looking at the economy plastics one. I know a lot of people use these, i was wondering what the heat source is and how it is installed. Also, I see the sterelite tubs for this rack are no longer made....anyone know if there is an alternate?

The other rack I like is the Reptile Basics Iris 32 qt rack. Wondering if anyone can give me some recommendations for this. I really like it, but it's $100 more than the AP.
 
With the AP economy rack you get your choice of heat cable or Flexwatt. I haven't seen the Flexwatt, but the heat cable is one long strip, and is installed in channels in the back of the shelves. My three racks are AP Economy Plastic. But they are the 66 qts, and the bins are still being made. The people at AP are super helpful if you have questions.
 
I have two types of racks, boaphile (which I bought real cheap off of Craigslist) and the AP rack. The AP rack came with cable, and I had to run it extremely hot to get adequate heat, but it made me nervous. So I moved all the colubrids to the boaphile racks, bought some pre-wired flexwatt from Reptile basics and started using the AP for the boas.

When/if I buy another set of racks, I'm going with the boaphile racks, they are sturdy but much lighter and the heat is easier to control due to the tubs being enclosed by the pvc. Also, I really like the fact that there is only the smallest gap (less than 1/8") between the top of the tub and the top of the rack drawer. I actually had a boa escape from the AP rack because the gap was too wide. So now I have thin insulation underneath all the tubs in AP rack to help lift the tubs up and assist with heat retention.

But both reptile basics and AP have great customer service and respond quickly.
 
If you're looking just at price:

[If these were the ones you looking at]
AP Economy rack (with heat, no tubs) = $180 + $45 shipping = $225 Total
-per 6 or twelve bins ($37/bin or $18.75/bin) + cost to buy bins.

RBI (with heat, tubs, and shipping) = $269 Total
-per 4 bins ($67.25/bin)

In my opinion you'll have more options with the AP at a slightly less expensive total cost when you account for the price of the bins (and whether they are still available).

Yet, you can't go wrong with the RBI, plus you can stack them later to expand.

I personally like the Vision racks, but they are initially more expensive.

It really depends on what you're planning to house and flexibility for future plans.

Either way, check out the RBI hides, by far my favorite hides for a rack.
 
The great thing about the Reptile Basics one is that the bins come included, so you don't have to go hunting down the right one. I have 2 of the 4 slot reptile basics racks, and they're just great!
 
RobbiesCornField said:
The great thing about the Reptile Basics one is that the bins come included, so you don't have to go hunting down the right one. I have 2 of the 4 slot reptile basics racks, and they're just great!
Click to expand...

Robbie, I've looked a lot at the Reptile Basics racks and they look appealing to me. How big is the gap between the top of the tub and the shelf? For hatchlings it would be easy enough to keep them in enclosed shoeboxes, but I worry about escapes.
 
Reptile Basics Racks

I have one of the 32 quart racks. Something you don't know about them is that they can be ordered up to 6 bins. I have a 5 bin one. The advantages are they come with: tubs (super CLEAR), back heat (11"), prewired, and locking pins. They also send stacking pins too. Stacking them can be done by purchasing the 32 qt 6 bin one and ordering a 5 bin one and placing it on top. Something else about this rack is you can order dividers which are placed long ways in the bins. This gives you 8, 10, or 12 bins in 4, 5, or 6. So for example I ordered a 5 bin 32 qt rack from them. I have 5 32 qt bins or 10 15qt bins.
I also have the hatchling 16 bin rack from them as well.
These are to only racks I have bought and I love them. Reptile basics also has everything else I need like temp guns, extra tubs, flexwatt, etc....
 
How secure are those dividers? Is there any way of one snake getting into the other side?
 
I love my AP Economy Plastics racks. I have the stat probes directly on the heat cable, with the stat set at 85F, and the back-up stat set at 90F, and I get readings right now of 88F directly over the heat cable, in the bin, and 85F an inch away from the heat cable, in the bin, in highest bin, in one rack, (my house temp is 82F right now) and 85 and 84 in the other rack. The bin with the higher reading is unoccupied, and has no water bowl...
 

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RBI comes with the heat and the tubs, so that should be factored into the comparison. Plus, on quality and strength of construction, RBI exceeds those economy racks by MORE than I could have believed before actually seeing both in person. The Economy racks have cheap for them - and that is it. I'm not saying they are crap - they aren't - but they just don't really compare, in terms of quality, to the RBI ones in my opinion.

You get what you pay for. Those economy racks seem "good enough" to many people, but "good enough" was never what I wanted in items that costly. ;)
KJ
 
Here is mine with a pair of Snake Guru black beauty hooks on the side.
rack-2.jpg
 
I chose the Economy Plastics racks because I like the open design. I wanted the snakes to get as much natural light as possible, since I never have the blinds open and I have sun shades in the summer. Also I wanted maximum air circulation for humidity and because, until last summer when I got the portable AC, my big AC could only cool the house into the mid-upper 80's on the worst summer days. And I wanted to be able to see them from all directions!
 
I hate to say it, but I already need a fourth rack...Luckily, I already have all the bins!
 
I do not know if it is true but some one mentioned that AP had discontinued use of heat cable on the econo line.
 
I don't know if its discontinued, but I do know that they now offer flexwatt as a heating option. I wish they did when I got mine, I would much rather have flexwatt than heat cable!
 
Nancy

Those racks look good unfortunitly they wouldnt work well in California the air here is too dry and the humidity wouldnt be high enough
 
Which is why I love it here!! I tried to live in CA, and couldn't do it...You _can_ just melt fewer holes to preserve humidity. I have _lots_ in mine! Still, I spritz blue snakes a couple times, and get nice sheds on everyone.
 
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