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How many 'til you get a rack?

JustineNYC said:
Hey Pat! 20 longs arent expensive...their 40$ here. The snake and a buttload of other stuff, namely monthly food are more then that.

Everytime I add someone to my stock, minus the cost of the snake....its about 200$.....heat, bowls, hides, aspen, thermometer. Stuff adds up.

Id make sure I had money for those things first, cause if your saying the 20 long is expensive forget everthing else.

And remember...snakes GROW. I have two right now that are waiting to be bumped up a tank size.


I know many many people say a 20 long is sufficient for an adult....I have an 05 snow who is 439 grams, and I cant wait to get her out of her 20 long. Its too small, thats JMO.
Click to expand...

Where do you get your 20 longs from? Because around here I go to Petco and find them for a little bit over $60. I would rather just make some racks for the extra price, and either store supplies in the extra ones, or put eventually put snakes in them. It's not like I'm going to be making 12 foot high racks, I'm talking about something around 5 feet tall.

I'm putting it this way in terms of cost: I would put around $140 in a 3 snake rack + extra shelves. I could pay $60 for a 20 long for each snake ($180) and then heat pads, and other such things. I'm not saying that 20 longs are going to break my bank, but on a scale of 3 snakes, and as far as a matter of size, they may not suit me.
 
KJUN said:
You get a rack when you decide that you want more snakes that you can take care of in display cages...or when you decide that you don't care about having them on display - you don't care about easily viewing them.

Only you can answer these type questions, but I figure that should be self-evident.
Click to expand...

This is a good point, and obviously, no one else can decide this for you. I am getting to the point that I am going to have to consider some type of rack system. I like to be able to see my snakes, so I have most of them in display cages that I built. However, acrylic is getting expensive, and a rack system would better utilize what space I have available.

I'm back and forth on the issue at least twice a week -- do I sell some snakes, or do I hold off getting some of the ones I would really like to have? I'll eventually figure something out, and so will you.

Also, I don't know if there are any local reptile shows in your area or not, but we have a pretty nice monthly show around here. I've seen used 20-gallon long tanks sell for around $10; a little more if there is a mesh top to go with it. Obviously, you have to clean and disinfect them, but it's a way to save money.

Kathy
 
Pat,

To me the answer comes down to room. I have butter in a nice 40 gal on display in the 'main' part of the house. But for the 4 anery babies, I built a rack that will hold huge 90qt sterilite bins. There's some pics on how I did it buried in this forum, just search back. That rack can hold 5 big bins, and I can reconfigure one shelf to house several 'hatchling bins' on a seperate thermostat once they produce hatchlings...if I go that far. Lighting in my basement is weak, too, but I do have one expose bulb nearby that I'll change out to a multi-bulb fixture and I have a lamp nearby, so there's no need to have integral lighting for the rack. Plus they do get some daylight so I wasn't too concerned about lighting.
 
patm1313 said:
Where do you get your 20 longs from? Because around here I go to Petco and find them for a little bit over $60. I would rather just make some racks for the extra price, and either store supplies in the extra ones, or put eventually put snakes in them. It's not like I'm going to be making 12 foot high racks, I'm talking about something around 5 feet tall.

I'm putting it this way in terms of cost: I would put around $140 in a 3 snake rack + extra shelves. I could pay $60 for a 20 long for each snake ($180) and then heat pads, and other such things. I'm not saying that 20 longs are going to break my bank, but on a scale of 3 snakes, and as far as a matter of size, they may not suit me.
Click to expand...

Petland discount.

60$ for a 20 long is ridiculous. You get the whole kit with filter for that here. Of course the kit is for fish but thats besides the point. And 10 gallons are 12$.
 
MerlinsPop said:
Pat,

To me the answer comes down to room. I have butter in a nice 40 gal on display in the 'main' part of the house. But for the 4 anery babies, I built a rack that will hold huge 90qt sterilite bins. There's some pics on how I did it buried in this forum, just search back. That rack can hold 5 big bins, and I can reconfigure one shelf to house several 'hatchling bins' on a seperate thermostat once they produce hatchlings...if I go that far. Lighting in my basement is weak, too, but I do have one expose bulb nearby that I'll change out to a multi-bulb fixture and I have a lamp nearby, so there's no need to have integral lighting for the rack. Plus they do get some daylight so I wasn't too concerned about lighting.
Click to expand...

How big is the butter? I cant decide to move the snow into a 40 or 55....is there enough room in a 40 for an adult?
 
JustineNYC said:
How big is the butter? I cant decide to move the snow into a 40 or 55....is there enough room in a 40 for an adult?
Click to expand...

As of last night's pre-meal weigh-in, Butter is 479g. He won't cozy up to a yardstick for me, but he's a good 4+ feet, I'm guessing. The 40 measures 36X18 with a goodly amount of 'headroom' for climbing stuff. I'd say it's plenty big for an adult to stay in permanently. See this http://cornsnakes.com/forums/showthread.php?t=64188
for a picture (assuming the link worked - by the way, how DO you make a nice link to other threads anyway?).
 
patm1313 said:
For all asking why the lights, it's because will be putting in a low-lit basement, and I need to be able to see the occupents.
Click to expand...
Can I ask how you'd intended to install these lights?

I'm trying to envision how a rack-with-lights would work - not least because I'd considered something similar for my slow worms - but I couldn't envision how to do racks for lizards that included UVB tubes.

Now, if you just wanted visibility in a pull-drawer system, maybe LED strip lights would work...
 
Ssthisto said:
Can I ask how you'd intended to install these lights?

I'm trying to envision how a rack-with-lights would work - not least because I'd considered something similar for my slow worms - but I couldn't envision how to do racks for lizards that included UVB tubes.

Now, if you just wanted visibility in a pull-drawer system, maybe LED strip lights would work...
Click to expand...

Yep, LED rope lights, used outdoors for lighting up houses in specific places. They can go on one or both of the back corners of the rack. I think that somewhere in this forum there was some pics of somebody doing it. Actually, I searched google and it brought me to this forum, and that was why I joined.

And the UVB tubes: My idea would be to put a recess in the shelf above the box you wanted to light, and stick a UVB tube and a metal long reflector sheild (not the bowl shaped ones, of course) up in there as well, but you might need some really thick material that is stong and large enough to hold it.
 
JustineNYC said:
Petland discount.

60$ for a 20 long is ridiculous. You get the whole kit with filter for that here. Of course the kit is for fish but thats besides the point. And 10 gallons are 12$.
Click to expand...

I know it is. I was about to go crazy when I saw how "expensive" they were.
 
Problem I have with adding lights to a rack system is that your tub slides in and out of your shelving unit.
This would be to complicated this would not be an easy task alone and you would be over budget in a heart beat buying lights and electrical supplies.

You can buy small halogen lights, 3 to a packet that are round small lights, but to make them recessed would mean you need thicker wood. Which in turn would cost more and make your rack extremely heavy.

I own a rack and I gotta say that I love my animal plastics rack. Snakes do not need a light, but if you are wanting to build a lighting system, you could do florescent bulbs to light the behind the tub but still, I think this will bring your rack system above your budget.

Right now, your snakes are small, if you do not use a 20 gallon or 10 gallon critter cage, I recommend trying small Fauna cages. They are cheap and can keep a snake that is about 125 grams in there just fine. This could save you money until you are able to truly build your rack or just go out and buy one.

And again, seriously, I have over 6 20 gallon long critter cages. I have not paid over $30 for any of them. Shop around and have your parents talk to the owners of the shop. You can get them at cost if you work a deal with them as well.
 
Easier, cheaper, faster (did I mention 'easier' already) to just rig lighting in and around the area of your rack to provide general lighting rather than illuminate the inside of the tubs, which don't do you all that much good anyway. Besides, you'll need to light the area around the rack anyway.
 
MerlinsPop said:
As of last night's pre-meal weigh-in, Butter is 479g. He won't cozy up to a yardstick for me, but he's a good 4+ feet, I'm guessing. The 40 measures 36X18 with a goodly amount of 'headroom' for climbing stuff. I'd say it's plenty big for an adult to stay in permanently. See this http://cornsnakes.com/forums/showthread.php?t=64188
for a picture (assuming the link worked - by the way, how DO you make a nice link to other threads anyway?).
Click to expand...

Thank you! I think Im going to go with the 40.
 
Well, you all convinced me. I think I've decided against my basement anyhow (to cold), so I wont get lights. Quick question: Would it be smarter to get heat tape for every shelf, or get heat mats?
 
Flexwatt is great - especially the new low wattage stuff. The newer "heatc cables" are amazing IMO, too.

On thing I would recommend, though, is if you build a RACK system, put BACK heat and not UTH with the flexwatt. UTH works, but runs the risks of having hot spots JUST warm enough to lead to sterility problems in male snakes. You can do that with ANY heat source, but I've found it is easier to do with UTH than back heat....ESPECIALLY if you use a rheostat or put your thermostat in the wrong place. (I had a rack built where one the left and right sides had UTH, but the flexwatt was purchased from 2 different lots. I didn't know it, but one side ran a couple of degrees warmer than the other side. Not sure why - may have been a better connection OR due to the different lots - but the thermostat was on the cooler side. The warm side was just warm enough so that I got NO viable eggs off of the 3 males on that side. All other males in the entire room were fine. I STRONGLY suspect that was the cause. Anyway, after spending a couple weeks playing with that rack, non-contact thermometers, and max-min thermometers, I can to the conclusion that I'd stick to back heat as much as possible...IF it is in an enclosed rack! (BTW, the temps in the cages weren't high enough to risk the snakes - they just seemed to fry their wigglies when they sat right on top of the UTF (4# Flewatt) due to it getting a warm spot (too warm) prior to the thermostat kicking the whole rack off.

Also, use a thermostat. Don't waste time with a rheostat unless the ROOM temp stays constant plus or minus no more than 2 degrees. I've explained why already in another post on this topic.
 
Ok then, another problem solved. I'll go with FlexWatt. Thanks for the help, I'll draw up some drawings of the rack in CAD.
 
patm1313 said:
Where do you get your 20 longs from? Because around here I go to Petco and find them for a little bit over $60. I would rather just make some racks for the extra price, and either store supplies in the extra ones, or put eventually put snakes in them. It's not like I'm going to be making 12 foot high racks, I'm talking about something around 5 feet tall.

I'm putting it this way in terms of cost: I would put around $140 in a 3 snake rack + extra shelves. I could pay $60 for a 20 long for each snake ($180) and then heat pads, and other such things. I'm not saying that 20 longs are going to break my bank, but on a scale of 3 snakes, and as far as a matter of size, they may not suit me.
Click to expand...

Your getting ripped off. I wanted a 40 gallon, and ended up getting a 55 gallon today....it was 69$
 
I know, but sadly, it's the best I can get locally. To get a cheaper one, I would have to travel a bit, which would cost as much as I save on the tank in gas money.
 
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