Racks & Enclosures!!!

[Grant vg]

Ha!

I cant believe u remember those vanna white pictures...lol
Now, im all embarrassed...

If i cant move four 6' x 2' x 2' melamine enclosures (with sliding glass, 4 aluminum circular vents, in good shape...etc..etc...) for 150, then i really dont think there is a strong demand for cage building, although there is to an extent, i think guys like greg west and john have pretty much got the market covered....

Sweet set ups are nice, and I would love to buy a few, but i think u (shane) should concentrate on building rubbermaid racks of all sizes. They are extremely easy to make, but a lot of ppl just dont want to spend the extra time to build it themselves.

I know i dont want to ever make my enclosures again...and
Id rather spend the extra few on a fellow herper.

Also, free dilivery would be great! :P

And, no edwin, how many times do i have to tell you, the bloods dont come with the wood! lol

[Shane Tesser]

Wow...you guys are great....way more info than i was actually expecting....i really appreciate that! Yeah i think i will take your advice grant and do up a whole bunch of racks of various sizes...The enclosures are more of a specialty thing im finding...but for me they are just fun to build. Routing out vents is no problem i have a router and actually completely forgot about doing it..so thanks for that! Im not really looking to go into business doing this..im just finding it a relaxing hobby right now...and just happened to be blessed with a full sized table saw, mitre saws sanders..routers...etc etc in a stocked garage..so i thought...what the heck..ill give it a try

[Greg West]

Just a question to pass off on some of you. What if you were to sell a rack with a routered spot for the heat tape, and had it wired so that all they had to do was install the heat tape and plug it in? If you still supplied the heat tape, who would be liable? You because you sold it to them even though it was them who installed them, or them because they installed it?

Also, I am assumining that you are talking about routering the panels underneath so that there is air flow over the heat tape so that it doesn't overheat. Does if give off that much heat, that it heats them well even when its not in contact with the surface that you want to heat? Hopefully you can understand what im asking.

Greg

[Zhakrin]

Personally Shane,

In a couple year (ya I know) I will hopefully be in a postion to start seriously breeding GTP, Balls some boas etc. What I will need is not so much Beautiful Oak display units, but stackable convenient systems.

SPACESAVERS are needed!

Also alot of herpers have apts and large units are not practical so again something that helps them maximizes their available space to herp ratio would be in big demand.

a problem i have found is that top entry tanks are major space hogs, but the front opening tanks are a lot more $$$ and harder to find.

I hope your still availible when I buy my house in a couple yrs, I wouldnt mind hiring you to outfit my whole "facility". if you would do that kind of work.

cya

[Greg West]

Grant ....

Sorry to hear you are having problems selling your cages. My theory is unless you find someone who had the same requiremenst and maybe the same snakes you used the cage for, then the only interest you are going to get is --- i'll give you $50.00 if you deliver it --- Pre assembled and USED cages are definitely hard to sell. I usually only build to order, except I build 1 or 2 for the reptile show. Even then I sometimes dont sell any. It is not a way to make a killing in the reptile world in my opinion. I just do it as a hobby. If someone wants one and is willing to pay for it then thats great, but I would never survive on that money alone.

Also there are quite a few other people in Canada who build reptile cages, and probably sold quite a few. Beth makes cages in BC, myself in Alberta, JD Terrariums, Ed Valan out of Toronto, Canadian Kaging (Are they still around) and probably many others. There is a market there for cages, but not all people are willing to pay for the labour that is associated with the cost.

Well, just my little rant......

Greg

[beth wallbank]

Hi there
Greg pretty much has it covered with the buyer market with the reptile enclosures. It doesn't cost a whole lot to make the enclosures, but the time, labour and space to store them is the killer. This is why the cages seem to be a bit $$$ when people are quoted a price for a unit.
This is a unit I just made that holds 5 drawers of 7gallon and 5 drawers of 3gallon rubbermaids, with heattape ontop as well for other enclosures needed. This paticular unit was relatively cheap to make, approx. $50 for the materials, (without the heat tape) but the labour would run a buyer twice that. This is where the demand drops out.
In all honesty, there is no business for enclosure making, unless you find a way to mass produce them for little $$ and little labour.
Personally, if you wanted to make enclosures or racks to bring to shows, build smaller sized units, with enough room for 4-8 rubbermaids max. That way they are easily moved and apartment friendly. And DO NOT sell units with heat tape. You are liable even if the buyer supplies it.
Hope this helps

[Grant vg]

Greg,

Dont supply any heat tape with your enclosures...
As beth said, even if u just supply it, and they install it, u can still be liable.

However, that doesn't mean u cant make your enclosures heat tape compatible...

As for the extent of heat the tape can give off... i have always used it squished between wood with no recess.
Others leave a recess, just to be safe.

From what ive heard, heat tape can heat fine from underneath with a small recess. BUT that means, its got to work alot harder
(meaning more power$$$$$) to heat to the desired temp.

I use hardly any power to heat my enclosures, so is there still that more of a risk not using a recess????

[Lisa]

Personally i like glass enclosures. They look really good. They're also easy to heat with an UTH. Unfortunetly they're costly and heavy, though you don't need to use the heavy glass used in aquariums. Maybe you can do low cost front opening glass enclosures.

[Greg West]

I would like to think my glass enclosures are low cost. $250.00 for a 120 Gallon front opening cage.

Greg