• Hello!

    Either you have not registered on this site yet, or you are registered but have not logged in. In either case, you will not be able to use the full functionality of this site until you have registered, and then logged in after your registration has been approved.

    Registration is FREE, so please register so you can participate instead of remaining a lurker....

    Please be certain that the location field is correctly filled out when you register. All registrations that appear to be bogus will be rejected. Which means that if your location field does NOT match the actual location of your registration IP address, then your registration will be rejected.

    Sorry about the strictness of this requirement, but it is necessary to block spammers and scammers at the door as much as possible.

First rack ordered...

F

Flagg

New member
Well I took the plunge and ordered my first rack, since my snake collection is growing to large for all the glass tanks.

After a lot of searching around for the best price, size and versatility I ended up ordering the Animal Plastics Economy Plastics rack.

I plan on 4 1756 sweater box tubs for young adult/ juvenile 05s and my one 03 adult and 4 16 qt boxes for 06s (not quite yearlings I guess)

The only place I've found the tubs is at Target, but was wondering if anyone knew of another source that may be cheaper? I'm hoping Target puts them on sale again some time within the next 4 weeks before I get the rack.

Any other anecdotal experience or tips on this rack from people that own it would be appreciated.

For instance, how well does the heat rope work for heating?
Will an on/off thermostat work well enough to keep temps within the proper range?
How does it do with humidity? I've found that tubs seem to hold in a lot more moisture than glsss tanks. often too much.
 
The most I can tell you is that those tubs will not be on sale for next week's ad. However, I can let you know the week before they will go on sale. :)
 
Thanks! I was hoping someone would have "inside" information =)
I know I read that they were on sale in February but I wasn't so close to ordering the rack back then.
 
Well, I'm glad I just checked Target, because here in the Chicago area the tubs I need ARE in fact ojn sale this week, until Saturday.

The 1756 32 qt is $5.49, regularly $6.99, and the 1754 15 qt is $2.99, regularly $3.99.

So I saved $10 buying 4 of each size to fill my rack.

I also just got a great deal on a PE-2 temp gun with laser for $19 shipped off Ebay.

Now if only the rack would arrive... 3 weeks to go. =)
 
Flagg said:
Well, I'm glad I just checked Target, because here in the Chicago area the tubs I need ARE in fact ojn sale this week, until Saturday.

The 1756 32 qt is $5.49, regularly $6.99, and the 1754 15 qt is $2.99, regularly $3.99.
Click to expand...
Guess I'm going to have to run to Target and see if they're on sale here since I have some extra cash that could be spent on backup tubs!! :sidestep:

D80
 
4 weeks and 1 day and I have my new rack. It webt together very easily, took a little over an hour to assemble it and thread through the heat rope.

Now it's just the wait for my Herpstat ND thermostat which was shipped yesterday from within the state but it went USPS so who knows when I will see it =(

Anyway, I do have a concern if anyone who reads this has an Animal Plastics rack...

The tubs fit very tightly, and it's hard to tell how much of a gap there might be between the ceiling and the tub. Is this enough air flow, or do I have to melt some holes in the tubs as well? I'd rather not, if it's not necessary.
 
Even if the gap was large enough for air, you are still going to want to burn some holes into the tubs. You will actually get condensation inside the tubs along with some pretty moisty humid conditions for your corns . . . not so good! For the price of a $14 wood burning tool from the local hobby store and staggered 1 inch apart holes on all sides, you are going to have a much better time of it. :)

D80
 
I was afraid of that. Damn that's a lot of holes to burn. I've got a cheap radio shack soldering iron that seems to do the trick well enough.
Would a wood burning tool work any better? Cleaner holes perhaps? I get nice round uniform holes but the melted gunk around the holes doesn't look so great.
 
Unfortunately, I don't have any close up pictures of the holes in my tubs . . . must get that done and on my site . . . The holes are uniform in shape and do have a splash of melted plastic around them, but it's not bad looking as it uniformily squashes down making a ring around the hole . . . if that makes sense. :shrugs: With the wood burning tool, the point is maybe a 1/2 long and then gets wider where the tip screws into the unit. It makes for a nice stop point and flattens the melted plastic down. Not sure what the soldering iron looks like, but if it's similar it should work fine.

As for burning the holes, grab a brew and sit down on the deck and starting poking away!

D80
 
Whoa I'm going to pass out from the plastic fumes...

I had 2 fans going full blast for ventilation but burning that many holes at close range you can't help but breathe in some of the fumes.

But they're all finally done and I've got the temps stabilized and put the aspen into all the tubs to warm up.

Tomorrow is moving day for all my corns. =)

Once they're settled, then I need to work on a warmer basking area in one tub for my baby BP so she can live in the rack too.

I'm thinking an extra piece of flexwatt or UTH under the unheated side of one of the tubs and plugged into the same thermostat. If I luck out it will give me the 94 degrees without any adjustments , otherwise I will try a lamp dimmer on top of the tstat going to the UTH.
 
Flagg said:
Whoa I'm going to pass out from the plastic fumes...

I had 2 fans going full blast for ventilation but burning that many holes at close range you can't help but breathe in some of the fumes.
Click to expand...
OUTSIDE!! On the deck . . .with a couple of brewski's . . . not indoors!! :grin01:

If I luck out it will give me the 94 degrees without any adjustments , otherwise I will try a lamp dimmer on top of the tstat going to the UTH.
Click to expand...
94 degrees!?!? Not for your corns I'm hoping?!?! 85 Tops if it's corns you're moving in.

D80
 
No, the 94 degrees is for the ONE tub that will house my Ball Python. The corns are all set up with a warm side of 85 and cool side room temp, usually 70-75.

Ball Pythons need 94 warm side and 84 cool side so the plan is to add a UTH to the one BP tub in the rack to give her a warmer 94 degrees warm side and her cool side will be the corn snakes' 85 degree warm side.

Couldn't do the hole burning outside, it was night time and I don't have a deck =)
 
Flagg said:
Once they're settled, then I need to work on a warmer basking area in one tub for my baby BP so she can live in the rack too.
Click to expand...
Ooops!!
:eek1: Read too fast, and missed this line in your previous post!! Sorry.

D80
 
Melting holes

I wish I knew how many hours I've spent in my life melting holes in plastic storage boxes. I haved learned a few things in the past 10 years that might be helpful.

Don't melt the holes to close to the bottom. It can be really hard to get poop cleaned out of them.

Make a re-usable stencil and mark where the holes will be with a Sharpie marker. It looks so much nicer when the holes are spaced evenly. I make three rows, with the middle holes alternating with the top and bottom.

Try not going overboard with the holes. Don't spend more time than necessary melting too many in. Take the humidity or your area into consideration. Remember that winter heating can severely dry a room out and create shedding problems.

If you do make too many holes you can use hot glue to fill them.

Try rigging up 5 soldering tools together. This will defiantly save some time.

Listening to music always seems to make time go by master. Anyone else here into psychobilly or horror punk?

And finally, be very careful. Don't rush or get careless soldering irons don't feel too good on your hand. I know that from personal experience.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top