Thermostat and rack questions.

[BornboreD]

I'm about to start the construction of a new rack this weekend for my balls. I plan on making it a large multipurpose rack, meaning I want it to conveniently be able to house adult sized rubbermaids (24.6L) and hatchling sized containers. I was going to build it so that one side had 6 adult size, one on top of the other, and the other side had 12 hatchling size. Two columnsof six side by side.
obviously one side is going to be deeper than the other to accomodate longer containers.

To heat this rack I will be using flexwatt and the Helix DBS 1000 Thermostat. I was going to run a strip of 11" flexwatt down the middle of each side. Basically my main question is....Can I wire both strips of heat tape into a single DBS - 1000 thermostat?? I figured that since both heat strips will be running at the exact same temperature, I would save money and space by only using one thermostat and only one rack. Would I wire the two strips in parallel or series?? Would it be better to wire a seperate power cord onto each strip, plug them into a powerbar, then plug the powerbar into the thermostat??

I also had an idea where, I was just going to build one tall rack, and choose appropriate sized rubbermaids, where the hatchling size's width was exactly half of the adult size's width. That way I could build the rack 10 adult size tall, but make the top 4 slots half as deep and put two hatchling containers side by side in each one. that way I would only need one strip of heat tape. I dunno, what do you guys think?? Any help, suggestions, ideas, and photos that you experienced rack builders/users, have would be greatly appreciated. This is kind of a dire situation due to new arrivals coming over the next couple of weeks.

Thanks in advance

Colin

[Jeff_Favelle]

I do the same and I plug the power bar into the thermostat. Works fine.

[BornboreD]

Jeff,

Would you say that the 24L, dimensions (ldh) 23x16x6, would be sufficient for large juveniles/small adults?? And if I were to use those as the large tubs, what would you recommend for the small tubs?? I was hoping that if I could find something 11x8x6 or 11x8x4, it would be perfect. Or is that too small??

Thanks for the help.

[Jeff_Favelle]

Yep, those shallow 24L Rubbermaids are PERFECT for Ball Python juveniles from age 4 months to 1 year. They work awesome!

Its funny, because the 11.4L Rubbermaid can be used for baby Balls age 2 months to 4-5 months and they are the EXACT same height as the 24L Rubbermaid! What does that mean? It means they can be used in the SAME rack! Very cool.

[BornboreD]

excellent

[Jeff_Favelle]

Its cool when stuff actually works out in our favour eh?

Best of luck with the rack! I'm building THREE this "holiday" weekend! No rest for us wicked eh? ;)

[mykee]

After reading your initial post, 11" heat tape stood out. Might be overkill, both for heat purposes, and electricity costs. 20 watts/foot for 11" as opposed to 8 watts/foot for 4". I use 4" in all of my adult racks, and it works just fine. Think about it. A Helix DBS 1000 (I have 6 in use) wattage capacity is 500 watts, that'll get eaten up quite quickly when you're running 20 watt/foor heat tape where 8 watts would suffice.

[Jeff_Favelle]

The only problem is, he's running the heat tape down the back (like me) and 4" would just not cut it on Rubbermaids of this size.

But you're right, unless you get the 1000W extension, it might not be enough. 12 squares would work in it though. Let us know what you do. All us Ball breeders use heat tape extensively, so just ask if you have any more questions. Either Mykee, or me or whoever has probably already encountered the problem and dealt with it. Learn from our mistakes! ;)

[mykee]

Jeff's right, back heat needs 11", my bad.