Your favorite Snake Racks

[franks]

Originally Posted by marvelfreak

For what ever reason they put a toilet right in the middle of the room on one side. So when i am on the john i can sit and watch my snakes. I fine it much more relaxing than reading a paper.lol

That is awesome! Every snake room should have one. You never have to leave lol.

[TheZoo]

I like tubs I do not like tubs I can not see in. I feel they are the best there light and portable and keep everything suitable for the snake and heck I have payed less than 40$ for 5 small tubs and when my snakes grow out of them they can be used pretty much for anything as long as its size appropriate. Also you can buy tubs and use that as a opportunity to save up for a really cool enclosure later on when your snake is done growing so you can buy the biggest and nicest there is. Just my thoughts I feel all options are good as long as they work.

[B_Aller]

Originally Posted by franks

I understand the necessity of tubs, I even use a 5 bin 51 qt rack for my ball pythons. I do however have two problems/concerns with rack systems.
One: many people who implement rack systems provide tubs that are way too small for their snake to do much of anything other than live a life of bed-rest. Kudos to Chuck (captain america) for providing his snakes with tubs the equivalence in size to a suitable viewing enclosure. I feel that he is more the exception than the norm when it comes to people who implement racks. Many purchase racks that are suitable for the animals they currently have and not the animals they will soon grow into. This problem is made bigger because most tend to buy a few baby snakes at a time in spurts of purchasing.

My second problem is that I believe that the existence of rack systems lowers the overall quality of our hobby. Granted, I do understand that there are many breeders who simply cannot conduct their business without owning rack systems, however, the implementation of rack systems allows any person to really cram 10 snakes into their living room under their TV and start cranking out babies. At the end of the day, the point of keeping reptiles is to enjoy and respect them, and it is our responsibility as "omnipotent" keepers to provide for them. I feel that the value of the lives we assume responsibility for is cheapened overall by this mindset of reptiles being a commodity that can be bought sold and traded for, and we easily loose track of the concept of the beating hearts and the live animals living in our house.

I am not singling any one person out, like I said, I myself have a 5 51qt rack I use for ball pythons. I do not feel great about it, and am in the process of converting them into a stack of wooden display cages. Regardless, they are useful, I just believe they also can serve as a venue to aide a person who has barely learned to care for one snake, to house a dozen, and create dozens more.

What a great post Franks, thanks for this, I really couldn't agree more and appreciate the way you stated it here.
These are wild animals that we forced to live in a box in our houses for our pleasure. I know why I put a alligator lizard in a jar when I was 8, it wasn't so I could put it in a drawer and never observe it, that's for sure.
I was speaking with an old time herp keeper at a large zoo last week and we both agreed that one of the major changes with keepers now is the lack of time or desire to be in the field. We both said that it used to be when you got into keeping reptiles you also got into camping!
Now it's a pyramid scheme to sell "investment" animals to ....who???
Thanks.

[B_Aller]

Originally Posted by smy_749

I've had my rack for a few months now, and its starting to drive me completely nuts but I haven't found any appropriately sized enclosures I like to replace it with. Every time I open a tub and see the snakes cruising around or sitting out in the open, I get all bummed that I had to open the tub to see them. IMO, if I had the choice between 10 of my favorite species in lame enclosures, or 2 in awesome setups, I would take the 2 every time. Even if you COULD see into your tubs, the lack of 'environment' just completely eliminates any possibility to observe interesting behavior. For people supplying the rest of us with snakes and have breeding facilities, I completely understand and get the reasons. But 1 rack in my living room for a few snakes, I feel like an idiot honestly :P

Well, the one nice thing is that there is starting to be a small movement of people who feel the same way you do Sam. I think the tide is slowly turning and many , many keepers are wondering why they are keeping animals in racks or tiny tubs, never observing behavior.
Unfortunately we have a long climb up a steep hill to get the conversation going in the right direction. I'm with you though, after years of keeping WAY TOO MANY animals I reassessed my keeping priorities about 10 years ago and went a different route, more space, less animals, more complex environments, less animals, more time for observing behaviors, less animals.
I think there are big changes coming for reptile keeping, I hope there will continue to be a contingent of keepers showing different ways of housing these animals, in contrast to the hoarders/rack style "investment" mentality.

[B_Aller]

Originally Posted by marvelfreak

For me it was i wanted something bigger for my snakes but i wanted to save money and still be able to display them. That why i have mine set up side ways. When i first started using the big totes i had them stacked on each other. That became a real pain fast because if the snake in the bottom cage crapped i have to remove the others to get to it's cage. So then i got the idea to get the metal racks that they are on now. This way i can just pull the cage right out without having to move the rest. Plus by moving two of my snake out of the boaphile cages into totes i was able to combined the boaphile and make two 8 foot cages for my Yellow Anaconda and 8.5 Jungle Carpet. Now i do know that some day i will have to get bigger cages for my Argentine Boas and Dumerli Boa. At which time they will go into a front open cage.

As for behavior. My Borneo got very aggressive when he was in a front open cage i moved him back to a tote and he became mellow again. My Blood tend to prefer the totes but my Blacks are just to big for them and do ok in the cages. They were a lot more active though in the totes.

My Carpets love the totes because i have perches at the top of the cages. With the way the Christmas tree totes are build if they are on the perch you have to bend down to see them. As the lid help hide them which they seem to love. Basically the lid and perch work as a hide. In fact they all quit using their hide on the floor. The only time they get on the floor is to sit on the heat after eating.

As for the opening the cage from the top compares to the front opening effecting their behavior it all depends on the snake. My Yellow Andie and Blacks Bloods seem to not hiss and be mellower when i go to get them out of their front opening cages. They like the cages because they can watch your every move. My Carpets will come strolling right out of the cage and up my arm no matter which kind they are in. Three of them have been kept in both kinds of cages and their behavior was the same. I think you just have to figure out what works best for each snake.

I like your idea of setting them up sideways and your observations and work show that you have a good grasp of what your doing and an ability to make changes as needed. This sets you apart from the norm for sure and I think you are doing a great job of finding a balance between what works for the animals and what works for you. The nice thing about your post is that you are observing your animals and adjusting the enclosures as needed, not something that most rack or tub set ups allow. Good job.
The fun thing about keeping is that it is not static, these are living animals and their needs change over seasons and lifetimes, as do the needs of the keepers. My guess is that you will keep evolving and finding things that work better and better.
Thanks.

[exwizard]

Originally Posted by B_Aller

...I hope there will continue to be a contingent of keepers showing different ways of housing these animals, in contrast to the hoarders/rack style "investment" mentality.

I have no issue with anything else you said in this post. This is why I did not quote the rest of it. I am aware of the different ways to keep snakes and I do employ almost all of them. Yes, I have 5 racks but I also have 4 display oriented enclosures as well. Next week, I am getting another Arboreal that is currently used for an IJ Carpet, so that will be 5 display enclosures. The housing I use for my snakes is as widely varied as the snakes themselves. My racks are all different sizes as are the display enclosures depending on the size snake that will fit in each of them. I know I said this before but I also need to say it again just to stress the point. I spend time giving each and every snake individual attention and not just by watching them. I pull them out and handle them all except my Scrub. Now he is in a display Arboreal and soon he will be in a bigger one. My other snakes that are in Display enclosures all get handled in addition to me being able to see them better. I am not a hoarder and I am not in this as a business. This is my own collection that I alone enjoy and take care of.

[ErikBush97]

Not only space but money... I work 40 hours a week for $600 a month. That's two decent display enclosures with only $100 to spare. For $500 I can get a nice rack that'll house all my snakes.

[marvelfreak]

Originally Posted by ErikBush97

Not only space but money... I work 40 hours a week for $600 a month. That's two decent display enclosures with only $100 to spare. For $500 I can get a nice rack that'll house all my snakes.

The two racks with three shelves $90.00 at Lowe's. Actually it's one big six shelve rack that's 8 foot tall. I didn't want to have shelves above my head so i set it up as two four foot shelves. The Five totes with red lids $300.00 Shipped from the site i posted earlier.

[marvelfreak]

Originally Posted by B_Aller

I like your idea of setting them up sideways and your observations and work show that you have a good grasp of what your doing and an ability to make changes as needed. This sets you apart from the norm for sure and I think you are doing a great job of finding a balance between what works for the animals and what works for you. The nice thing about your post is that you are observing your animals and adjusting the enclosures as needed, not something that most rack or tub set ups allow. Good job.
The fun thing about keeping is that it is not static, these are living animals and their needs change over seasons and lifetimes, as do the needs of the keepers. My guess is that you will keep evolving and finding things that work better and better.
Thanks.

Thank you. I am always taking note and make mental notes about how my snakes act and behave to different thing, so i know what works best for each individual snake. Then i adjust the environment to what they like to keep them happy and healthy.

[ErikBush97]

Originally Posted by marvelfreak

The Five totes with red lids $300.00 Shipped from the site i posted earlier.

Why so much? I thought the site said $35.00 a piece

[marvelfreak]

Originally Posted by ErikBush97

Why so much? I thought the site said $35.00 a piece

My bad i went and checked my records and for the 5 it was $219.00 shipped. These is why i keep records some day my memory skips town.

[B_Aller]

Originally Posted by exwizard

I have no issue with anything else you said in this post. This is why I did not quote the rest of it. I am aware of the different ways to keep snakes and I do employ almost all of them. Yes, I have 5 racks but I also have 4 display oriented enclosures as well. Next week, I am getting another Arboreal that is currently used for an IJ Carpet, so that will be 5 display enclosures. The housing I use for my snakes is as widely varied as the snakes themselves. My racks are all different sizes as are the display enclosures depending on the size snake that will fit in each of them. I know I said this before but I also need to say it again just to stress the point. I spend time giving each and every snake individual attention and not just by watching them. I pull them out and handle them all except my Scrub. Now he is in a display Arboreal and soon he will be in a bigger one. My other snakes that are in Display enclosures all get handled in addition to me being able to see them better. I am not a hoarder and I am not in this as a business. This is my own collection that I alone enjoy and take care of.

I did not mean to single you out exwizard, sorry if you felt I did. I understand the reasons for rack style keeping and am not saying that there is only one way to do this. I do think one side of keeping (racks/tubs) gets the most attention and time and I think it would be nice to see another mindset represented on these type of forums.
I am truly interested in the driving force behind keeping reptiles in racks or small tubs, as I honestly don't see the attraction, necessity, convenience,
sure, I get that. The desire, I don't get... and I want to, so I don't make assumptions about why we are where we are.
Thank you.

[ErikBush97]

Originally Posted by marvelfreak

My bad i went and checked my records and for the 5 it was $219.00 shipped. TheseNew is why i keep records some day my memory skips town.

Haha. My memory likes to do that as well. It's $174 at those prices for 5 of them, so shippings like $50? Not too bad.

[smy_749]

Stupidity deleted, continue on. Nothing to see here

[KORBIN5895]

That link said it was only 33"....