My Christmas Present from my father

[FelanMoira]

Is going to be a gecko rack

Gotta couple of questions - plans are to leave the sides open so I can run flex tape continuous through the shelves.

First - What kind of foil tape do I need to look for at Lowes or the heating/plumbing mom and pop shop here?

Second - Mom is considering painting it - will the paint scorch under the flextape? What kinda should I get? It will be from scrape wood from the brother's construction job (they just burn it if my bro doesn't take it!!!!)

Third - How many of you use the lids of your sterilite/rubbermaid containers in the rack and how many don't? What amount of space do I need to leave for the air flow above the cage doing it both ways?

Forth - The thermostat or rheostat probe? Taped inside a box on the upper most row - above the heat tape - against the heat tape on that row?

As Dad is building this, I'll be doing one on a smaller scale for my hatchlings next year. Being optimistic - I WILL have hatchlings.

 

[GeckoConnection]

some answers...

Is going to be a gecko rack
First - What kind of foil tape do I need to look for at Lowes or the heating/plumbing mom and pop shop here?

Plain foil tape from the air condition section. This is the tape they use for A/C ducts. You can get the one that has no printing on it, as it is cheaper and works the same.

Second - Mom is considering painting it - will the paint scorch under the flextape? What kinda should I get? It will be from scrape wood from the brother's construction job (they just burn it if my bro doesn't take it!!!!)

I would personally use Melamine, which already has a nice white color. It also is resistant to the heat of flexwatt as well as a little water here and there. Its only about $28 for a 4x8 sheet at HD. If you are going to use scrap wood and paint, make sure the paint is safe for use with live animals. The people at HD or Lowes should be able to point you in the right direction. The flexwatt shouldn't hurt the paint, since the temp of the flexwatt should only be about 94 or so, giving you a temp of 90 at the hot side of the tub.

Third - How many of you use the lids of your sterilite/rubbermaid containers in the rack and how many don't? What amount of space do I need to leave for the air flow above the cage doing it both ways?

I don't use lids on my racks. I use a soldering iron ($5 at walmart in the automotive dept) to burn holes at the top of the tub for air exchange. Without lids, cleaning and feeding is alot faster if you have a good number of geckos.

Forth - The thermostat or rheostat probe? Taped inside a box on the upper most row - above the heat tape - against the heat tape on that row?

I use rheostats on my racks, made from dimmers, but they are in a room with a constant temperature. If they are going to be in a room with fluctuating temps, then a thermostat should be used. I put my digital thermometer on the floor of an empty tub, on top of where the heat tape is. I know it wastes one space, but it gives me an accurate reading of the floor temp of the tubs.

Hope that answers some for you. I am sure others here will have more advice and more detail. Good luck!

 

[malt_geckos]

Well, Joe answered pretty well!

I will just say we won't be using lids on our sterlite boxes either because it takes too long to pull the entire box out and take the lid off, especially when you have over 30 geckos. (we will have over 30).

We will be using a Thermostat. We're getting Helix controls, which are pretty pricey but work very well. We are asking for them along with our incubators, for Christmas. So, maybe you can do the same...?

 

[paulnj]

No need to leave the sides open. Just take a circular saw and plunge the blade in level with the shelves in the area you need to run the heat tape in and out. Works like a charm on my latest rack and I plan to do the same thing for now on. Cutting the holes is WAY faster than wiring in series, but that also means you can't turn some shelves off when not in use.

 

[yellermelon]

I have one rack w/o lids 2 with lids. Because I have very smart cats. They have pulled the drawers out twice and gotton gecko toys.. so I built racks to hold containers with lids heres a pic of one of mine built for w/o lids. I also run my heat tape in series rather than continuous..eletric wire is also cheaper than heat tape. I used the melemine from home depot for 26 bucks a sheet this rack pictured too 2 sheets.