okay so i had these spare stoage racks laying around and i thought i could possibly make them into racks for my younger ball pythons ( all around 120-150) grams to kinda grow out in. the only problem is that i set up one of the tubs and added a ball python into 3 out of the 6 tubs. and 2 out of the 3 snakes escaped within minutes of my test run. as you can see in the photos there is a tiny gap in between the top of the tub and the bottom on the tub above. is there any way i could possibly snake proof that in order to make the tubs a viable option. i had seen the crack but i didnt think much of it seeing how i could barely even fit my finger through it.
and yes the top tub is missing it is being cleaned
The problem is that the plastic on those is super flexible, so if there’s a gap they’ll be able to push to make it bigger. Could you reinforce the edges of the tub to make more rigid? I have gaps about that size on my rack, but the tubs and melamine are rigid enough they can’t get out.
Out of curiosity, how are you heating the tubs?
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thats true and something i didnt even consider. now i just need to find a way to make them more rigid and i have heat tape attached to the bottom of the tubs
Could you get a strip of (non sharp) metal and somehow fix it to the inside rim?
i tried that with the folders pictured but i havent tried it with metal yet
Folders are also flexible, I can’t imagine they’d help much.
I have a few of those storage rack/tub things in my closet for clothing, I’ll test it out with my most difficult snake and see what ideas we can come up with
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Many have tried turning those into racks and many have failed, there are things with which you cannot cut corners.
Here are your issues
There are no shelves so if you open and close the first and second tub the snake underneath can and will slither out and if not careful you will squash his head when closing the tub above.
No place to attached heat if you attached heat at the bottom of your drawers (and obviously you can’t use tape) the second and third drawer will have double the heat (top and bittom)
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youre exactly right and those are things i didnt even consider. thanks so much
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thanks so much
If you want to try building your own rack, this is one I did this summer. It’s working out really well and wasn’t too difficult/expensive
I also explored the possibility of trying to use those storage tubs as snake racks during my brainstorming phase, and ultimately couldn’t figure out a way to make it work effectively.
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Making tub racks like this work, in the long run cost more than it would have to go a better route. I did make a rack similar to this work, by attaching 1/8" thick acrylic to make the tubs secure. It was an odd situation and was only done for a temporary fix. Sad how tempting it is though only to be ineffective.
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I appreciate everyones help and I think I’m just gonna build a better rack myself. thanks to everyone for the help
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Go to americanmadeexotics.com they have plans on there for DIY racks. I would also check out animal plastics and cserpents. I was looking at building a rack but I found that for what I want to build and the time it will take that I was going to be not far off from buying a “starter” rack . so i decided to hold off and just save for one. Some people prefer the pvc closed in style racks anyway. So I guess it depends on how quick you need it and your ability to build and access to tools
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