Hello everyone I am fairly new to reptile but have gotten very intrested in the past 6 monthes I’m also intrested alot in genetics (not super knowledgable yet but I enjoy it and I’m learning!) I’m looking at a not to big rack system and thought this might be a great all purpose rack to use. I plan to purchase 2 females adult and 3 subadult males soon and start breeding next year. If I bought the complete package with the rack do I need heat pads and a thermostat or is that included? Basically just looking for any and all feedback. Not trying to make money I just want to enjoy the hobby!
No racks that I know of come with tstats but most come with the heat tape installed. Also I would recommend going for three females and two males if five snakes is what you want to start with. I made the mistake of starting with males and it cost a lot of time!
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I would be certain that rack is the one you want to go with. It uses heat cable for the heat, (some people hate it, some people love it). Also it being open sided, it will be more susceptible to the temp of the room, making a temp gradient far more difficult to achieve.
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Was going to get 2 females 2 males, but the girlfriend wanted to have an albino pied at some point so I’ll get a female albino het pied and breed it to a visual pied male I planned on getting so she can have the snake she wants as well! Thanks for the imput!
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agreed, I have to go with close sided racks because I don’t have a dedicated snake room I can keep hot.
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You have any recommendations around the same size that you can maybe help me towards? They also offer a non clear grey draw which was actually what I was going to go for if that would fix those issues.
So if I have a dedicated snake room which I do will keeping the door shut with 1-2 portable heater work? It is the spare bedroom and has a closing AC vent so I could block the AC and put portable heaters to keep the room at a better temp
Depending upon where you live you dont always need to have the heat tape on. Here in southern california it stays in the high to mid 90’s during the summer so I just shut off the heat tape because then it could possibly fry my snakes from the added heat of the tape. Also, there are racks that are called economy racks for those that want to save a little extra and they still work great and they have 7 or 8 levels. I recommend these because you stated that you just wanted to start with 5 snakes so those racks would be a good first rack and if you wanted to add a extra snake or two later on you could.
I’m from southern indiana! Right on the Ohio river in the middle, normally were not up in the 90s and our house is really well insulated so it doesnt get to hot inside usually only 72°F. What should I search for on google to find these economy racks any specific brands you recommend?
I’m not to worried about saving money just want to be prepared if I have 3 female and they all lay 5 eggs that’s already 15 snakes possibly hatching if I like say 5 of them boom I already have 10 snakes. Like I said I’m not really producing to sell, most of what I dont want to keep to breed will either given as a gift to friends who are intrested in the hobby or sold cheaply to a friends BP store for them to resell. I already have a very decent primary income so dont ever want to think of this as a job having to sell and try to make money. I want it to be pure enjoyment of cutting an egg and seeing a snake I’ve been working towards making. All that said my budget is kinda just whatever is best for the snakes I could spend spend alot on a rack but the snakes inside are always going to be more expensive then the rack. so a good keeping system is a huge priority for me.
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Ive never been able to have a snake room so I cant help out much with that. Sounds like that would be fine though! just fine tune everything before getting the snakes.
Well it was supposed to be my man cave for my pc and sim racing wheel setup for forza but I decided its gunna be the “snake cave” instead I want at some point to have every bit of wall space covered in terrariums almost like the snake exhibits at a zoo but only ball pythons!
Heat is included in the complete package in the form of heat rope (worse type of heat out there) as for the rack very wobbly which is problematic considering the weight you put in it.
You will need a thermostat.
I used to own this type of rack and was so happy when I got rid of them.
The positive are the tubs they are great.
Additionally this is best suited for small adult males not adult females, you are looking at V70 for most adult females.
Thanks this is some great first hand experience the rack also works with v70s which was a reason I liked it any advice on a good rack to go for with 10-20 drawers given what I’ve said so far?
There are a few rack manufacturer out there as far as using Vision tubs https://cserpents.com/C_Serpents_Hot_Box/RACK_SYSTEMS.html
haha thats awesome. I have all my snakes in with my pc room. Pc acts like a heater
@jamesh6621
I’m not sure how close to Evansville you are, but there’s a guy around here (rackurballs) that builds some decent racks for a good price. All but one of my racks was built by him and I’m very happy with them so far.
I believe he can do custom work as well with whatever tubs you like/however many you need.
I recently picked up a hatchling rack from him at the expo in Clarksville, Indiana earlier this month… just in time for when my first babies are to start hatching out!
I’m not sure if this counts as advertising but I think it’s always nice to support local businesses anyways, either way if this gets flagged I understand 
Shoot me a PM man need some more reptile friends in my area 
I’ll def look into that would be so convenient to have it built custom and even better to support a local guy! I have a BP shop like 10 minutes from my house Mayos Morphs dont know if you’ve heard of them!
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Vision racks are ok but expensive for what they are. We use RBI (reptile basics) racks almost exclusively. I’d say at least 95% of our racks are from RBI. They use similar tubs to the vision racks.
Cserpents is a very good choice for a rack for their prices. ARS and Freedom Breeder in my opinion are better racks for your money compared to Vision. Animal Plastics make terrific cages like the t8, but I feel their racks are lacking.
Deb is 100% correct. Never use heat rope, it’s not a good choice for any enclosure or rack, and usually doesn’t hold the temp you want regularly.
I build my own out of melamine. It’s heavy enough for large female balls, and very affordable. If you can build one you will always save money in the long run and if you plan to breed, you’ll get experience working and building racks so you could build one for your hatchlings.