# Questions about a rack



## PeanutButterJellyTime (Mar 19, 2012)

So, I'm thinking about racks. Would make sence after all....
So if I got something like this:
http://www.argos.co.uk/static/Product/partNumber/7017412.htm
Should I put mdf (or something else) around it (3 sides), or can it stay like that????

Also, heat mats. Should I use a strip one, or a square one? And how would you use the habbistat thingy, or it's equivalant for racks??? Or do you just buy a load of babbistat thingys??? 

Obviously wont need one now, but knowing me, my reptile collecting will start to grow at some point, so want to know now rather than later so I can start planning. If I have the information now, I can sort it out later.

Thanks


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## AraCyanea (May 30, 2011)

I wouldn't say adding MDF to the plastic frame is a good idea. Since the weight difference between them is fairly great, so it'd just fall back or something and would look awful really.
Why don't you just get something like this:
http://www.reptileforums.co.uk/foru...ums-my-viv-stack-picture152067-hatch-rack.jpg

Maybe not as wide obviously, probably about 6ftx4ftx2ft - 4ft. Then just add shelves in the middle with RUBs on them, you're sorted really. 

I haven't got a rack myself as I believe in each reptile to have it's own viv. If it was a reptile shop and all, then I'd understand the rack more.
So I wouldn't know too much on the habistat and strip or square heat mats. Personally, if I am right in each Habistat being able to support 3 heat mats, I would make it so 3 RUBs are on each shelf, then get one habistat per shelf, with a correct sized heat mat each.

It'll probably cost more than you want, but it'd probably be much nicer when it's done.

Hope any of this helps or something


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## PeanutButterJellyTime (Mar 19, 2012)

Ah that's perfect..... I might as well take off the doors of my cupboard empty it and use that... got 2 large shelves and one thin shelf..... so might as well use that.... thanks for showing me that, would have to figure out how to do the electrics in it though..... 
well I got plenty of time to think on it, as I'm in no rush to get it.....


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## AraCyanea (May 30, 2011)

PeanutButterJellyTime said:


> Ah that's perfect..... I might as well take off the doors of my cupboard empty it and use that... got 2 large shelves and one thin shelf..... so might as well use that.... thanks for showing me that, would have to figure out how to do the electrics in it though.....
> well I got plenty of time to think on it, as I'm in no rush to get it.....


Sounds like you got a good plan there.
For the electrics you could just drill a hole at the back of each heat mat, take the plug off the heat mats, thread the wire through the holes and you've got a pretty nice and tidy set up going on.


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## PeanutButterJellyTime (Mar 19, 2012)

Thanks, the elctrics coming out of the tub,rub, faunarium, etc etc... what ever I plan to use..... will have some dort of hole. But I've seen users using strip heaters, etc that are attached to (not sure what it's called) this habbistat thing not sure if they use 1 plug for them all, or have purchased multiple one's and plugged them into seperate sockets.... will have a look around on the forum and ask users.... if any of you know what they use, I'd be grateful to know.....


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## Willz0r2010 (Oct 6, 2010)

Tbh, I wouldn't use heat mats at all. All of our racks are heated with heat cable, as one length of cable does the entire rack with lots left over, and it only needs one stat to control the entire thing. Far, FAR cheaper and easier.


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## violentchopper (Jun 20, 2008)

After building my own rack I now wish I used heat strips. I believe 1 or 2 lengths of heat cable on each shelf isnt enough for big bodies snakes compared to smaller snakes like corns. 
Luckily I only have 1 big bodied snake and i used a heatmat instead for him.


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## Willz0r2010 (Oct 6, 2010)

violentchopper said:


> After building my own rack I now wish I used heat strips. I believe 1 or 2 lengths of heat cable on each shelf isnt enough for big bodies snakes compared to smaller snakes like corns.
> Luckily I only have 1 big bodied snake and i used a heatmat instead for him.


We've not had a single issue temperature wise with cables, and that's for all sorts from colubrids to fat royals and other boids.


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## PeanutButterJellyTime (Mar 19, 2012)

It's just a thing of getting heat wire, local store sells nothing like that, and not seen anything like that on ebay either.....
I'll have a look around for it. At the mo I only have a leo, and obviously getting everything ready for a corn, so 2 heat mats at the moment won't hurt.... but obviously our collection will grow.... so near the time will get something like that....

is this it???

http://www.reptiles.swelluk.com/reptile-supplies/reptile-heating-equipment-414/heat-cables-925/zoo-med-repti-heat-cable-29343.html


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## violentchopper (Jun 20, 2008)

Go up Surrey pet supplied website. There is nothing wrong with heat cable. I think 1 of 2 lengths across a shelf is inadequate enough for a python or other big bodied snake. 
If you do use heat cable make sure you run it at least twice across each shelf as once does not give them a big enough heated section in their tank. Regardless of how much foil stick tape your using.


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## fuzzielady (May 19, 2008)

I use heat cable for royals and the temps are spot on. I router 2 channels, cover with heat tape, fit cable in channels and heat tape over the top again. I cover an area the size a heat strip with aluminium tape. That maybe makes a difference.


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## violentchopper (Jun 20, 2008)

fuzzielady said:


> I use heat cable for royals and the temps are spot on. I router 2 channels, cover with heat tape, fit cable in channels and heat tape over the top again. I cover an area the size a heat strip with aluminium tape. That maybe makes a difference.


That's exactly what I did but if you measure the heat all over the heat strip the hottest parts are on top of the cables. As you slowly move out it's cooler. The tape itself does not generate heat and only absorbs heat from the cable. It's the same for every set up with cable. Not just mine. That's why a lot of people won't use them and go for heatstrips. I agree that's it's effective but not as effective as a heatmat/strip. Try it and you will see. It's basic science.


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## fuzzielady (May 19, 2008)

Yes but the heat spreads over the foil tape, rather than only being above wire. Hence, it acts like a heat strip. My temps are spot on, on every shelf. Maybe it depends how far apart the channels are and which stat you use. I also have an incubator running with heat wire and I have 0.1 Centigrade of a fluctuation. I originally set it up with a heat mat but I couldn't get temp the same in each tub. I have 2 tubs wide and 2 high. I had to either over heat the bottom ones or underheat the top ones. I gave up and used heat wire with aluminium tape and temps are perfect.


I have used heat mats and strips in a rack as well. I prefer heat cable. Maybe it is more to do with how it is setup


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## violentchopper (Jun 20, 2008)

fuzzielady said:


> Yes but the heat spreads over the foil tape, rather than only being above wire. Hence, it acts like a heat strip. My temps are spot on, on every shelf. Maybe it depends how far apart the channels are and which stat you use. I also have an incubator running with heat wire and I have 0.1 Centigrade of a fluctuation. I originally set it up with a heat mat but I couldn't get temp the same in each tub. I have 2 tubs wide and 2 high. I had to either over heat the bottom ones or underheat the top ones. I gave up and used heat wire with aluminium tape and temps are perfect.
> 
> 
> I have used heat mats and strips in a rack as well. I prefer heat cable. Maybe it is more to do with how it is setup


I have mine at 3-4 inches apart. I agree it's so easy to set up. That's the main reason I use it. I have 2 cables plugged into the same stat. The second cable I used in a viv and I done about 5 runs under the Lino and it was hell of a lot hotter then the shelves. Too much cable creates too much heat. So made 2 runs and covered the bottom of the lino with heat tape, then the temps were fine.


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## Scaled Reptiles (Sep 4, 2011)

Heat tape takes a while to warm up and doesn't absorb all the heat that's currently given out. The heat tape furthest away from heat source will be cooler and take a while to heat up. Breeders with a large stock of snakes generally use long heat strips as the heat is more consistent along the whole strip.


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## Willz0r2010 (Oct 6, 2010)

PeanutButterJellyTime said:


> is this it???
> 
> http://www.reptiles.swelluk.com/reptile-supplies/reptile-heating-equipment-414/heat-cables-925/zoo-med-repti-heat-cable-29343.html


That's the right type of thing, yeah. However I wouldn't personally buy anything like heat cables, heat mats and stats from companies like Exo Terra / Habistat/MicroClimate/Zoo Med and so on, purely because they're insanely expensive and fairly unreliable. Do some shopping around online and you'll find them for cheaper and at better quality.


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## fuzzielady (May 19, 2008)

Ah, maybe that is where the problem lies. You are expecting the heat cables to work the same in 2 different enviroments. In an enclosed viv the temps will be stable but in an open rack you have to take into account airflow, which will automatically reduce temps. My big rack has 2 heat cables on it. It has 10 shelves and one wasn't big enough. Both cables run of the same dimmer stat and temps are the same on every shelf. My channels are also about 3 inches apart. I run about 5 rows of tape side by side so it has a larger area to spread


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## violentchopper (Jun 20, 2008)

fuzzielady said:


> Ah, maybe that is where the problem lies. You are expecting the heat cables to work the same in 2 different enviroments. In an enclosed viv the temps will be stable but in an open rack you have to take into account airflow, which will automatically reduce temps. My big rack has 2 heat cables on it. It has 10 shelves and one wasn't big enough. Both cables run of the same dimmer stat and temps are the same on every shelf. My channels are also about 3 inches apart. I run about 5 rows of tape side by side so it has a larger area to spread


Adding a cable into a viv is something I have recently done. My rack still runs at the same temperature, I just had to mess around with the viv a bit. 
If I could rebuild it now I would have routed the channels 2-3 inches apart and have 3 rows. Doesn't matter for most of my snakes as they are young and in 9ltr RUBs. 
Surely if you have it 3" apart and have 5 rows of tape, the whole tape will not be the same temperature. Lots of people who use cable switch to heat strips. Its a slow process but it's happening.


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## fuzzielady (May 19, 2008)

violentchopper said:


> Adding a cable into a viv is something I have recently done. My rack still runs at the same temperature, I just had to mess around with the viv a bit.
> If I could rebuild it now I would have routed the channels 2-3 inches apart and have 3 rows. Doesn't matter for most of my snakes as they are young and in 9ltr RUBs.
> Surely if you have it 3" apart and have 5 rows of tape, the whole tape will not be the same temperature. Lots of people who use cable switch to heat strips. Its a slow process but it's happening.


 
I did it the opposite way. Heat cable is a bit like marmite, people either love it or hate it. 

No the tape is not all the same temp. It varies depending which spot you test the temp on. Inside the rubs though. It gives the required hot end temp where required. It also gives the required cool end and ambient temps. It did take a lot of head scratching to work out how far from the back to run the first channel, otherwise I wouldn't have got my ambient temp right. I also considered leaving the back off the rack, then decided that would cause fluctuations in temperature. For me, it works perfect.


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## violentchopper (Jun 20, 2008)

I left the back off just so there was a bit of airflow. 
It is like marmite lol
I don't hate it, I just think there is a better alternative. I doubt I will change now that I have routed every shelf lol will look at bit crap. I think my heated area is about 6-7 inches in total.


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## fuzzielady (May 19, 2008)

violentchopper said:


> I left the back off just so there was a bit of airflow.
> It is like marmite lol
> I don't hate it, I just think there is a better alternative. I doubt I will change now that I have routed every shelf lol will look at bit crap. I think my heated area is about 6-7 inches in total.


 
Try putting the back on and see if it makes a difference. It doesn't take much airflow to cool the foil. Also do your tubs have raised feet or are they flat to the shelves?


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## violentchopper (Jun 20, 2008)

fuzzielady said:


> Try putting the back on and see if it makes a difference. It doesn't take much airflow to cool the foil. Also do your tubs have raised feet or are they flat to the shelves?


They are flat to the shelf. I didn't put the back on so I could push the RUBs back a few inches more. 
It was probably fine for my python in all fairness but I just wanted something that I could trust to give an equal amount of heat over a slightly bigger area.


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## fuzzielady (May 19, 2008)

Not having a back on increases the airflow ie lowers temps. I agree though. If you want the heat to cover a larger surface area then 3 rows would be better than 2. For royals in 33l rubs, 2 rows is ideal. Any more would upset the ambient temp and stress them out. Not that they need a reason :lol2:


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## PeanutButterJellyTime (Mar 19, 2012)

I'll have a shop around and have a look. Getting my snakey on Wednesday, as long as temps are fine. Got it running now. Got a few more bits to buy, but purely cosmetic got every thing I need in there.
So mr or mrs hissalot will stay on cupboard side (it's a little thing that holds my dvds, well not so little) till a bigger RUB is needed.
But thanks for the advice every one.....


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## violentchopper (Jun 20, 2008)

Make sure you have that habbistat thing lol lots of people think they are a preference.


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## PeanutButterJellyTime (Mar 19, 2012)

They are a nessisity to me..... I can't remember the name hence me calling them habistat things.....


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## violentchopper (Jun 20, 2008)

PeanutButterJellyTime said:


> They are a nessisity to me..... I can't remember the name hence me calling them habistat things.....


Ha ha that's good to hear. Was just making sure you knew.


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## PeanutButterJellyTime (Mar 19, 2012)

violentchopper said:


> Ha ha that's good to hear. Was just making sure you knew.



Yeah..... I'd be running like a headless chicken without em.... hell even my crickets have a heat mat and a habbistat-thingy-me-bob


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## violentchopper (Jun 20, 2008)

PeanutButterJellyTime said:


> Yeah..... I'd be running like a headless chicken without em.... hell even my crickets have a heat mat and a habbistat-thingy-me-bob


Lol that's dedication. I breed Dubai roaches and I just stick them in the boiler cupboard. Works a treat.


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## PeanutButterJellyTime (Mar 19, 2012)

I'm dedicated to my hobby.....:2thumb:

I don't think I'd be able to do dubai roaches.... can just about manage not squealing with the crickets as they leap at me screaming "don't feed me..... don't feed me" :lol2:


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## UnBOAlievable_Morphs (Feb 9, 2011)

Willz0r2010 said:


> Tbh, I wouldn't use heat mats at all. All of our racks are heated with heat cable, as one length of cable does the entire rack with lots left over, and it only needs one stat to control the entire thing. Far, FAR cheaper and easier.


and safer as normally people have 5 mats running off of one stat like me atm :whistling2: I'm going to stat ever mat though i think just to lower that risk of a fire to the bare minium


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## violentchopper (Jun 20, 2008)

How are you gonna plug all those stats in??? a multiplug????
I'm pretty certain that's been proved to be just as unsafe. Don't decent stats trip out if they get faulty??

I tested 2 mats on 1 stat, both 12w but made by different companies. One heated a lot higher then the other. I then tried a couple of mats made by the same company and they heated to near enough the same temps. I think if it's tested and you get good results then go for it.


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## violentchopper (Jun 20, 2008)

PeanutButterJellyTime said:


> I'm dedicated to my hobby.....:2thumb:
> 
> I don't think I'd be able to do dubai roaches.... can just about manage not squealing with the crickets as they leap at me screaming "don't feed me..... don't feed me" :lol2:


Lol your joking. Crickets are 10x worse then roaches. 
Roaches don't jump, bite, fly, climb smooth surfaces and not like to injure your reptile. Be careful when feeding them to your gecko. The last thing you want is a trip to the vets due to an infected bite.


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## PeanutButterJellyTime (Mar 19, 2012)

violentchopper said:


> Lol your joking. Crickets are 10x worse then roaches.
> Roaches don't jump, bite, fly, climb smooth surfaces and not like to injure your reptile. Be careful when feeding them to your gecko. The last thing you want is a trip to the vets due to an infected bite.


For me roaches are 10X worse than crickets.... and they don't get a chance to bite.... If they are a little fiesty I tweezer feed.... if the shaking the :censor: out of them method does not work......


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## violentchopper (Jun 20, 2008)

PeanutButterJellyTime said:


> For me roaches are 10X worse than crickets.... and they don't get a chance to bite.... If they are a little fiesty I tweezer feed.... if the shaking the :censor: out of them method does not work......


They get a chance to bite your rep lol I've saved so much money with my roaches. Spent about £50 on my colony and I've had them nearly a year. My geckos love them. I think they are more nutritious then most other bugs. 
Do you just feed crickets???
Locusts are great, they are just more expensive.


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## PeanutButterJellyTime (Mar 19, 2012)

violentchopper said:


> They get a chance to bite your rep lol I've saved so much money with my roaches. Spent about £50 on my colony and I've had them nearly a year. My geckos love them. I think they are more nutritious then most other bugs.
> Do you just feed crickets???
> Locusts are great, they are just more expensive.


I only feed the big ones, and the littler one's I crush the head a little and then shake the living daylights out of them.... and then BAM mouth gets them. The bigger ones are tweezer fed. I also feed Mouth Mealies, and did try Morio's but he had 3 and then didn't want them after that....
I may try Roaches.... but local pet store don't sell them... so may try a few off of ebay.... see how he reacts. Locust's they only sell mahhoooooviseee one's way too big for Mr. Mouth.... more bearded dragon size (adult) they are... or bigger lizards... etc.

But he loves chasing them around shaking them around a bit and toying with them.... I loves my Mr. Mouth :flrt:


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## violentchopper (Jun 20, 2008)

I only feed morio worms to my beardie as they are a tad big for geckos.


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