Pull-out rack for VE175 large tubs

[liquid-leaf]

Here's the weekend project my husband and I just finished.
It's a new rack for our snake room. It houses two Iris VE175 tubs from Reptiletubs.com and will have a 5x2x2 homebuilt cage (which we got when we adopted our BCCs) that sits on the top.

The two tubs hang in 2x4 frames. There are support tabs on the rim of the lids that support it very nicely. Each frame has rail slides on it, and can be pulled out of the main stand just like drawers.

We still have to move the big cage (probably tomorrow), so I'll have to take more photos when the whole setup is all ready. I can provide dimensions for anyone who is interested in doing something similar. You could probably build a tall rack that could house probably 5 of these tubs, they are big enough each for an adult boa.

Photos (my new kitten got in a few shots):

Front view-

Front view, top drawer pulled out-

Side view, top drawer pulled out -

Side view-

One side looking down-

Diagonal view-

Detail of front of drawer-

	Boa Constrictor Constrictor Red Tail Boa Constrictor (Boa constictor constrictor). Refers to "true" red tail boas such as the Guyana and Suriname locales.

[Yungair23]

Looks awesome wish i was that crafty. I think i seen a little kitten i do see a little kitten!

[WeissChoice]

Awesome rack!! Looks great and very efficient!! Congrats on the build!

[fire_kat]

Very nice!
And I must say,that kitten is adorable

[liquid-leaf]

Yes, he is. We actually found him in the crawlspace under part of our house!! He's got a clean bill of health now after de-fleaing and going to the vet. I wish I had his energy though.

[liquid-leaf]

Finally got around to taking more photos. Here's the rack with the wooden cage on top. I put reflectix on the sides of the rack to hold in heat (also taped reflectix on the underside of the tubs, so the heat from Flexwatt gets reflected up into each tub).



I stapled an old curtain over half of the front of the rack. My (hopefully) pregnant female hog island is in there, and she got a bit cranky after breeding and was striking the sides of the tub every time a shadow crossed in front of it, so I figured I'd give her even more privacy. It also helps hold heat in a little more on one side.

The male suriname will eventually go back into one of the tubs (right now he's in with the female in the wooden cage and doesn't seem to want to stop breeding)... Here's a closeup of the snakepile.



I shall eventually post dimensions. I always seem to forget when I go in the snake room.

	Hog Island Boa hogg

[Yungair23]

Very nice i need something like that for my tubs. I also have the VE 175's but mine have the green tops which i think the snakes prefer over the clear. Anyways wish you were in my area id pay for one like that to be built.

[Yungair23]

How do you heat yours? That actually wouldnt work for me as i use Human heat mats.

[liquid-leaf]

I have Flexwatt taped to the undersides of the tubs. I also have a human heat pad just laying on the top of the upper tub since I wanted to make sure the possibly preggo female is warm enough.

You could probably tape human heat pads to the bottom of a tub. Just make sure to use a thermostat in case the heat pad burns out or starts getting a hot spot (two of my old human heat pads burnt out in the past year, fortunately they both just quit though). It's kind of frustrating - I'm using Flexwatt more now because human heat pads now come with so many safety features (like auto shut off etc), that they are useless for reptile heating.

I have flexwatt taped to the bottom of the tub - but have a thermostat probe taped right againt the bottom of the tub first. So the thermostat is sandwiched between the flexwatt and the tub. Once I got a good temperature inside the tub, I noted where the temperature setting on the thermostat was (it reads waaaay warmer than the inside of the tub for obvious reasons, since it's right against the flexwatt). It's been pretty good so far.

I have reflectix taped under the flexwatt too, so heat doesn't leak out of the bottom.

[liquid-leaf]

Oh yeah - alternatively, you could attach heat pads (and/or Flexwatt) to the frame BEHIND the tubs (especially if you use plywood or some other sheet material as the back of the rack). The heat pads would stay attached to the back and not be attached to the tubs at all. I thought of that after I had wired mine up already (I didn't use plywood across the entire back, just the lower part of the back). So it would kind of be like traditional rack 'back' heat.

[Yungair23]

I have yet to have a problem but i am going to invest in a couple of thermostats to keep control of the heating pads. I just add layers in between the heating pad on tubs (there stacked) to get the temp i want.