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Posted by oldherper on April 25, 2003 at 17:59:00:
In Reply to: Rack design questions posted by Jeannie on April 25, 2003 at 16:54:07:
I keep the lids on mine. I just space the shelves so that the boxes with the lid on fit with just a little friction between the shelves when you slide them in. I use 12" wide melamine for the shelves and the sides and pegboard for the back. I heat with 3" FlexWatt on each shelf and a proportional thermostat. I use 1 1/2" stainless wood screws and washers to fasten the unit together and put a screw about every 18" along the back edge of each shelf through the pegboard for additional support in the middle. The boxes themselves provide some support for the shelves. As far as ventilation holes, I usually drill six holes across the front and back of each box and about 8 or so down each side. Humidity is really not that much of a problem. Kingsnakes and such tend to turn their water bowls over a lot, so You have to keep dry substrate in there. I just use the disposable food storage containers for hide boxes inside the cage boxes.
:I'm working on designing a rack to house a small collection of corn/kingsnakes and rosy boas. I have a few questions and hope to get some answers here.
:1) I'm looking at Rubbermaid/Sterlite underbed boxes for the collubrids, but the boxes are only 6-7" high. Is that high enough, or do they need some climbing room (mine do seem to climb a bit)?
:2) If the shelves are approx. 40" wide, will I have a problem with sagging in the middle? Will melamine shelves combat this problem?
:3) How much of a gap should I have between the shelf above and the top of the box? Will I be able to keep neonate rosies in a lidless system (I'm thinking not...)? If I need to keep lids on my neonates, will their humidity stay low enough?
:4) How many rows of holes are required for adequate ventilation in a lidless system? A lidded system?
:Thanks very much to all who answer!
:Jeannie
