Just trying to get everything all ready for next breeding season. The size of the tubs ill be using are L39.5cm W25.5cm D 8.8cm and ill be using a 47" × 6" (120×15cm) heat strip. Ill put the tubs in rows of 3 and stack up to 10 for 30 tubs total. But I was just wondering what materials would be best to use and the sizes id need them to be for this to work?
4 Likes
I’m building a similar rack now (which is going very slowly since I don’t have much time to work on it). I’m building mine out of melamine. You can use different thicknesses and it’s a balance between how sturdy it is and the weight and cost. You can look up the weights of the thickness you want and estimate the weight. You could also use pvc, which is more expensive, but it’s lighter and fire retardant. You could use plywood, but it would likely need sealed and it doesn’t look as good.
The size of each shelf would be roughly 40cm x 77cm, but you could adjust it to personal preference. The size of the sides would be 40cm x 88cm+11t (t is the thickness of the shelves). Personally I don’t use a load-bearing back because of weight, and I’ll use brackets for support. But I’m planning to add a foam backing to insulate the heat.
4 Likes
Thanks for the suggestions! But i also just realised that the way I had planned would have left alot of epty space. So now im planning to either do 4 tubs across ans keep going 10 levels up for 40 tubs total or go 4 tubs across and 8 levels up for 32 tubs total. Im only planning on doing 2 clutches next year so I wont need tons of space for hatchlings.
2 Likes
What @erie-herps posted just about covers it as to what to build it out of. You could also buy a shelving unit to do the same thing. This would be less work, more flexible, and cheaper. Since you are using tubes, a shelving unit can be used with larger tubs later, or a combination of sizes. It might not look like what you had in mind, but it will serve you in more ways then just one. The extra shelves can also be used for storage of bedding, cleaning supplies or even move your current collection to it as well. Good luck and let us know what you did.
3 Likes