Pics of my snake room

[jwsporty]

Hey folks,
Well I finally got my snake room setup the way I want it. I built two light-weight rack systems (2 across,3 up) , with independent wiring and heat controls to house my babies. The room is 9x11, sub-floored, heated and secure. If you have any questions drop me a line. I will be building two more of the rack systems for future use.. Thanks for looking


Jim

[jwsporty]

another, colubrids in the racks, BP's in the aquariums

[jwsporty]

Nothing fancy, just functional

[jwsporty]

Cost a couple hundred bucks to build both racks, including all electrical but not including the heat pads. There are independent heating controls for each shelf, humidity is pretty constant at 50% for all the tubs. The tubs are 55 litre versions from sterilite. Cool end holes were drilled on the left front side down low, and hot end holes are drilled in the lid at the back

[jwsporty]

and here's a final pic. Materials are 1/4" G.1.S. plywood, block jointed with 1x2 pine, glued and screwed. 36-1/2" tall, 38-1/2" wide, 23-15/16" deep. It was cheaper to build two units using 3 sheets of plywood. Very little wood waste. There is only one plug on each unit with independent outlets on each shelf. Each outlet is controlled by a dimmer switch. Temperatures are remaining stable. It took about 6 hours to put together both units including the wiring. Thanks for looking.

Jim

Again, if you have any questions, drop me a line

[Classic]

Jim, Are the tubs fitted snug to the upper shelf? Are you using the upper shelf as a way to keep the lid closed on the tubs or are the lids safe and tight enough as a standalone viv? Where did you buy the tubs? Would trust one of those tubs without anything laying against the lid?

Very nice setups. I'm considering selling off some of my aquariums to make space for a rack.

Thanks
Brian

[Invictus]

I'm also considering going with a rack system. They may not be as pretty, but I'm getting sick of worrying about waterproofing. I'm just going to build some MDF racks, and use the good ol' rubbermaids.

Great setup jw.

[Rattlesnake75]

awsome snake room

[SerpentLust]

That's awesome!

Jenn

[jwsporty]

Thanks Folks,

Brian: What I did for placement of the shelves was put two stacked popsicle sticks on all four corners of each box to give just enough space to slide the tubs in and out but not enough to allow the lid to be pushed off. The tubs are 55 litre version by Sterilite Model # 1858 and you can pick them up at Walmart for 6.47 ea. The lids are a lot firmer then the rubber maids and they have a deeper channel that the lid sits in. The lock-downs are on the ends and are quite solid.

There is just enough resistance putting them in and out to tell me that the inner channel assembly is still sealed but not so tight that it is a pain to remove them from the rack. They could be used comfortably on Kings and Milks with now problem. You might be pushing your luck on baby corns though. The venting for the hot end was drilled on the rolled edge surface of the lid so if I ever have to stack them on top of each other, the air flow would still be there. The cold end holes are drilled about 2" up from the bottom on the front left side of the box. 2 weeks now into use and no problems, even with the glass tanks sitting up top. If you wanted to tighten up the tolerance you could simply use thicker wood, but that would add to the cost and I don't feel it is necessary.

If you wanted to use them stand alone, I would trust them but for the added security what you could do is apply a couple strips of Velcro strapping across the centre (side to side), where there is no latch down. But the lids are definitely not as flexible at the middle as the roughneck version from rubbermaid.

Time will tell how well they will stand up to general use and larger snakes, but I don't feel there will be a problem.

Jim

[crazyboy]

where do you place the heat pads because i wold think that if they touch the plastic they would melt it

thnxx
chris

[jwsporty]

UTH's are mounted at the back and mounted directly to the wood. There is no fear of melt-down as the surface temp inside the tubs is average 1-2 degrees cooler than at the heater itself. I the heater never gets above 92 degrees anyhow as everything is on dimmer switches. Not a matter for concern

Jim

[crazyboy]

ok thax never thought aboutit that much
btw nice snake room i love it

[jwsporty]

no problem and thanks, gonna have to get busy and build some more soon...more babies on the way..

[Thomas]

great room, you must have worked hard congrats!