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Best racks and vivariums?

Thanks again for all of the advice! This really helped a lot and now I have a resource to refer back to every time I'm in the market again :).

@hackler22s, those are some NICE setups.

@all, yes tipped over water dishes is like a never-ending plague, lol

Personally I was leaning towards Animal Plastics because I liked their vivariums so much (and a lot of them are on sale right now), but the hubby decided we will just be getting a rack right now and after showing him all the options he liked Vision the best (for price/aesthetics/durability), so it looks like we're getting the "Clearview Model # 1756".

I see that the image shows 10 large tubs; does anyone have experience with being able to use smaller tubs in this as well? Like 20 shoebox tubs instead of the 10 shown? I'm asking because I know the height dimensions on the shoebox tubs are also 6" tall, so I figured it must work, right? I'm hoping to be able to mix and match sizes of tubs in this one.
 
Hey,

I made a rack similar to the video here is a link to how I did it.

http://www.cornsnakes.com/forums/showthread.php?t=98634

It works pretty good. Not long ago I started looking again for ideas on racks. I looked at almost everything out there on DIY racks and professional made racks. I really like this guys design. I'll be tweaking my design a little by using particle board for the shelves because it has holes. If your a little handy, don't have to be Bob Villa, you should be able to make these and easily duplicate them for very little costs and keep a very uniform rack/reptile room. It really is a very well designed rack..IMO.

http://www.northeastsnakes.com/racks.html

Hope those also give you ideas...

Best..Chet
 
i just ordered a stack of 5 boaphile today so with hope i will be able to review those soon enough :) BUT

to deal with tipped bowls might i recommend...
these!

I love, repeat, LOVE these bowls. I used to have tipped bowls no matter what kind I got, then i got these and not only can the snakes use them as a cool hide, but they never tip them! Ive had them get under there and its perfect for a snug corn fit and has two entrances. the low sitting water and wide base also makes it really hard for it to flip over! My snakes love them and they have solved all my bowl tipping issues. (and are top shelf dishwasher safe! <3!)
 
LostInstall said:
I really like those racks because of the extra head room. Are those reptile hammocks that i see inside them? Do your snakes make good use of them, climbing branches, and the extra head room in general? Those racks seem like a happy medium between a cage and a normal rack.
Click to expand...

Yes, some of the snakes have reptile hammocks. I can tell pretty quickly if a particular snake is a hammock user or not, and if a snake will use a hammock, it gets one! Adult corns, in my experience, don't so much like climbing branches or vines as they like laying on an elevated broad surface. I've started using Target Wine Cube boxes as hides for a lot of the adults (with newspaper filling) and I frequently see them lounging on the roof of the box. Even though the adults don't climb vines, they still have vines for cover and to make the bins look prettier and less industrial.

The big 66 quart bins let you have a nice deep layer of aspen, two or three big hides or corkbark slabs, a paper towel roll and a big water bowl. In laying season, there is plenty of room for a big lay box without removing more than one hide. I don't have any problem seeing the snakes although the Sterilite bins are a little opaque. I _love_ being able to remove the whole bin from the rack for a deep cleaning.
 

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Okay, we got our rack today! Wee!

Anyway, aside from that, I guess I didn't consider it not coming with a rheostat and heat probes, silly me :p . I guess I assumed "heated" meant the full nine yards.

What rheostat is the best one for this rack?

Also, do I need a probe in every tub, or do I just need one on the top tub and one in the bottom?

I'm not really sure how that whole rheostat thing works really......
 
Did you get an AP rack? If so, I will be VERY impressed with their turnaround time. We have all AP cages and racks. Our first order in 2009 was an absolute nightmare... they were so damn slow and the stuff we ordered did not come right (holes drilled in the wrong place, etc). They DID fix everything, but I'd say it took 4 months, if not a little more, until all was right. (Lesson #1-- give yourself at least 50% more time than you think you'll ever need)

Our 2nd order went smoothly at first until we discovered that the rack they were building us no longer had bins to fit it-- Sterilite discontinued those bins, mid-production, replacing them with bins with clip handles. You had to take the handles off to use it with the rack they were building us, and that left a gap that babies/juvies could get through. So that was a no go... we ended up finding 28 qt bins that were almost okay, but the gap is larger enough that they can only house adults. :( (Lesson #2-- plan ahead and buy bins FIRST... then rack)

This past fall we ordered Malakai the burm a new 4' x 2' cage and it came pretty fast. Within a month. They told us there are doing expedited shipping for popular models, so apparently they have listened to the complaints and taken steps to correct them.

I have always been impressed with the overall quality and "look" of the cages we get from them. We'll order from them again, I'm sure.
 
Nope, we settled on the Vision rack for now (this one), with actual vivariums to be purchased later through AP (since I like the look of their vivs much better than Vision's). Anyway, our rack showed up in under a week after the actual order, with a different kind of heat rope than pictured and we were short 17 nylon pins that hold the backstops in, but other than that things looks great so far. I've contacted them and hopefully they'll work with us on those two issues. We'll see if their customer service is as good as their racks :) .
 
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It's not all that fancy, but I built this rack (with the help of a friend) for under $200... here's a breakdown of the approximate costs:

Pre-cut melamine wood from Home Depot: $85
6 Pre-wired flexwatt strips: $40?
Tubs: I already had most of them, but they cost between $4-9/piece (fits 12qt, 28qt & 41qt without lids, and 6qt with lids)
Thermostat: Currently running on a $27 Repti-temp 500R, but they can range from $10-200+ depending on what you need.
Labor: FREE, since my friend was generous enough to construct it w/ no charge. :)

P1020040.jpg


With 41qt tubs, although it can fit a variety as mentioned above - still need to drill holes on the side, to pass the flexwatt wires through.
P1050319.jpg


If you're interested in building one like this, I'll be happy to share the dimensions... can't give detailed instructions, though, since I didn't actually build it myself.
 
As far as racks go, I love AP, hands down. AP currently shows the 1753 (6) racks as ships w/in 10 days of order.

As far as cages, I will be getting these for my carpets. (I haven't decided on the Modulars or the ProStacks). While I love the idea of the Prostack, I don't need full sized cages anytime soon, most of my carpets are babies.) http://constrictorsnw.com/cagessupply/prostacks.html

http://constrictorsnw.com/cagessupply/plmodularcages.html
The advantage I have, is this guy is in WA state, so I won't need to pay for shipping, I can go pick them up.
 
P.S. That first pic was before adding the back piece - it now has a solid piece of wood (not sure what kind) along the back.

And if you're not into DIY racks, I also love these two!

First there's my Boaphile Ball Room rack, which holds 4 41qt tubs... price is $399 with FREE shipping & includes heat/tubs, but I bought mine second-hand for only $120. Please excuse the dust, LOL. ;)

http://www.boaphileplastics.com/rhinoraxx_ball_room.html

P1050320.jpg


And this one I believe is a Monster Cages rack, with 6 30qt tubs & back heat... also bought it used, from the same guy who sold me the Boaphile.

http://monster-cages.com/racks.php

P1050321.jpg
 
Lolo said:
It's not all that fancy, but I built this rack (with the help of a friend) for under $200... here's a breakdown of the approximate costs:

Pre-cut melamine wood from Home Depot: $85
6 Pre-wired flexwatt strips: $40?
Tubs: I already had most of them, but they cost between $4-9/piece (fits 12qt, 28qt & 41qt without lids, and 6qt with lids)
Thermostat: Currently running on a $27 Repti-temp 500R, but they can range from $10-200+ depending on what you need.
Labor: FREE, since my friend was generous enough to construct it w/ no charge. :)

P1020040.jpg


With 41qt tubs, although it can fit a variety as mentioned above - still need to drill holes on the side, to pass the flexwatt wires through.
P1050319.jpg


If you're interested in building one like this, I'll be happy to share the dimensions... can't give detailed instructions, though, since I didn't actually build it myself.
Click to expand...

This is almost exactly what I was planning on building this year.
Thanks for the pics!!
 
Naagas said:
This is almost exactly what I was planning on building this year.
Thanks for the pics!!
Click to expand...

No problem! Lemme know if you want the dimensions... I like how it fits 4 different tub sizes, so you can adjust/upgrade as needed. :)
 
kgmax1228 said:
Beats the heck out of them knocking over the water! :realhot:
Click to expand...

What about cleaning though? Bowls frequently get that slimy film from still water that only a proper wash can take care of.

Nanci said:
Adult corns, in my experience, don't so much like climbing branches or vines as they like laying on an elevated broad surface.
Click to expand...

Such a great observation! Whenever I use kleenex boxes as snake hides the snakes always rest on top of the boxes, nestled in between the box and the rack's top, never actually in the kleenex box! I should just switch to hammocks. ;)
 
Dorgrim said:
i just ordered a stack of 5 boaphile today so with hope i will be able to review those soon enough :) BUT

to deal with tipped bowls might i recommend...
these!

I love, repeat, LOVE these bowls. I used to have tipped bowls no matter what kind I got, then i got these and not only can the snakes use them as a cool hide, but they never tip them! Ive had them get under there and its perfect for a snug corn fit and has two entrances. the low sitting water and wide base also makes it really hard for it to flip over! My snakes love them and they have solved all my bowl tipping issues. (and are top shelf dishwasher safe! <3!)
Click to expand...

Your link doesn't work.. do you have model # or some other info?
 
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