I built these racks...

[trinitywolf]

and now I'm wondering if anyone else has used them? I really enjoy building things with my own hands so I decided to build some instead of buying them. I'll tell you, I didn't come out much ahead considering the time spent building them. I would estimate around 60 - 65 hours for the three shelves. I'm sure Jeff (A master carpenter) would say that's far too long, but I'm a novice and just learning to do this stuff. ;) That time does include installing the heat tape, running all the wiring and such, so I'm not a complete slacker. :)
I got these plans off the internet, although out of respect for Jeff I won't post the address here. I ended up with 18 blanket boxs and 88 shoeboxes in the three racks. All three racks are run on 4 inch flexwatt and one thermostat. Go Jeff on the thermostats. Their really worth EVERY penny.
Anyway, here are the pics:
http://photo.redtailboa.net/albums/albuo13/Mvc_743s.jpg
http://photo.redtailboa.net/albums/albuo13/Mvc_744s.jpg
If this is out of bounds for this forum, just kill the post admins. I'm not looking to sell these or anything and I definatly think Jeff's racks are VERY SWEET!!

This right here took me about... 3 hours at most. It was me and a friend who built it. The only problem is the weight. Other then that I would say these tubs are big enough to hold breeding balls! I bought a baby female ball at the last all ohio show just for the heck of it. I wanted a blood, but maybe next month. Total cost on this was about <75$, and that's heated each tub with 2.5 feet of 4.5" heattape.

http://www.theboaforum.com/forumpics/DSCF0206.JPG

I'll take an updated pic tonight if I get home not too late. I added spill proof water dishes and over turned litterboxes as hides, they LOVE 'em!

[trinitywolf]

Hey...that's cool. Did you buy the board pre-cut or was that a pre-fab shelf? What did you use?
I built a rack a lot like that and the shelves began to sag and it made it really difficult to pull the tubs out and put them back in. Have you found that to be a problem?
One of the things I like about the ones I just built is that I know they won't do that. Since they are door blanks they have the rigidity to hold their shape.
I don't own a table saw so all my cuts were made with a circular saw and that was VERY time consuming b/c you have to measure each cut and they better be close or you can toss at least half a door. The doors are not really expensive, but I'm not much on throwing out money either. LOL

All we had was a chalk line, a 12" ruler, some tape, a table, a circular saw, and a drill. That's about it. The rack is made of a nice rigid melamin that is 3/4" thick, so I know it won't sag. We bought it in sheets of 4x8 and just used edging on the cut edges facing outward. Pretty simple. I designed it to be just as tall as it is wide. So we just had to make about 8 of the same cuts. There is plywood supports under the kickboard holding on 500lb test casters. Plus the back is made of white pegboard for ventilation and for extra strength.

P.s. What are these "door blanks"? I might need something similar for a hatchling rack. Melamine is expensive and heavy!

[trinitywolf]

hmmm...door blanks. The best way to describe it is just to tell you it's a door. I'm not being a smart alec. :) The reason it's a blank is that it has not had the handle or hinges cut or drilled into it yet.
Also, these are hollow core door blanks. If you go to Lowes or Home Depot and ask for them they will know what you are talking about. The center is hollow, thus the light weight. Try to get finished doors as you won't have to seal them (I dont' think).
The huge advantage I see to these is that they are VERY light in comparison to melamine. I can move these around on casters fairly easy all by myself and they were no problem to stand up or lay over while I was working on them. I also used peg board on the back...great stuff for support and ventilation.
I have also found that melamine does not take a lot of abuse as it cracks easily. However, it's all about personal preference.