UPS Ground is included in the cost of your RBI Plastics rack or cage within the continental USA. Sorry, we can not offer express shipping options on racks.

The Iris MCB-SS Shoeboxes without the lid on measure 13 1/8" x 8" x 4". The MCB-L Sweater boxes measure 23 3/4" x 16 1/8" x 6" . CB-70 dimensions are 33 1/2" x 17 3/4" x 5 1/4".

How Big of a snake can I get into one of these? What else will these house?

We routinely keep baby balls, boas and colubrids in the shoebox rack. Baby balls are comfortable up to about 300 grams, baby boas up to about 16"-18", and colubrids up to about 20"-24". Also an ideal box size for growing individual terrestrial geckos.

The 15 Qt. STC-410 tub works well as a "grow out" tub for baby Balls (500+ grams), Boas, Colubrids or Geckos. Some smaller species may do fine in this tub for life.

The Sweater box rack will house balls up to about 2000-2200g, boas to about 36" and most adult kings and corns. These boxes have a little more floor space than the old Rubbermaid sweaterboxes us oldtimers used to use. These boxes also work well for small colonies of terrestrial geckos such as Leopard geckos or Fat Tail geckos.

The CB-70 rack will house about any Ball Python you will ever own and boas up to about 4 feet. It will also do well with larger colubrids such as gophers, pines, and large milk snakes.

Why only 4 tubs in the Sweater box and 3 tubs in the CB-70 racks?

Well, a couple of reasons. First is shipping. Shipping companies use a couple of methods to determine shipping cost. One is actual weight, which is pretty self explanatory, and the other is dimensional weight. Basically a box the same size as the box I use to ship the Sweaterbox rack but filled with feathers will cost the same to ship as Sweaterbox rack because of the amount of space it takes up in the truck. If I went with a five tub rack the dimensional weight /shipping charges about double even though the actual weight has only gone up a couple of pounds. That makes the cost per tub quite a bit higher for the consumer. Not good. I have also found that the 4 high rack (sweater box) and 3 tub rack (CB-70) withstands the rigors of shipping much better, virtually assuring you your rack will get to you intact on the first try.

Another nice bonus with the four tub design is that you can comfortably stack three units high (just over 6 feet total), giving you 12 tubs in the same space as the usual 10 tubs you would get out of two 5 high racks. Two of these racks stacked is less than 5 feet high! I really like the additional housing that gives me and I bet you will too.

Remember, when comparing prices on different brands of racks you want to calculate your total cost per tub, not the price of the rack itself. You will find that not only are RBI Plastics racks competitively priced but they also include several more features that will make your reptile husbandry that much easier.

Why Iris brand boxes?

We went with the Iris brand boxes for a couple of reasons. The first is they do not seem to feel compelled to change their product line and dimensions constantly like Rubbermaid and Sterilite. The second, more important reason, these boxes rock! The have nice smooth, flat interiors without the troublesome indentations or "feet" to catch feces and urates. They are a snap to clean and are quite durable. On top of all of that they are nearly transparent so you can easily see what is going on in the box.

Where can I get replacement boxes?

We can sell you replacement boxes as needed. We have found that www.reptiletubs.com keeps almost all sizes of Iris tubs in stock at competitive prices. They should be your first stop for extra tubs.

What do these racks include?

All of our Iris and Interdesign racks include the rack, heat, and tubs. Sterilite and Rubbermaid racks include heat but DO NOT include tubs. Also included is a set of tub locking pins and rack alignment pins. The racks are pre-drilled for your thermostats temperature probe. These racks are ready to come out of the box and be used, NO ASSEMBLY REQUIRED!

RBI Plastics tub locking pins are a very handy innovation. With the pin in place it is not possible to open the individual tub. Should a snake get loose and get behind a tub it will be unable to turn all of your other animals loose. If you have had this happen to you in the past you will love this. These also make good "food in tub" indicators for those with large collections. These pins are standard with all of our racks!

How big of a gap is there between the box and the shelf?

These racks are built with very tight tolerances. There is only a gap of a few thousandths of an inch on all rack sizes. Virtually no baby snake I know of, including garter snakes, can escape the shoebox rack when the box is closed.

How many watts of power do the racks use?

Back heat racks use between 40-60 watts of 11" flexwatt heat tape. One 500 watt thermostat will operate 8-10 units. Belly heat racks use between 70 and 140 watts per rack.

Do these racks use belly heat or back heat? Which is better?

RBI Plastics Shoebox and Sweaterbox racks come standard with back heat. Which is better? We have found back heat to be every bit as effective, if not more so, than belly heat. The back heat in these racks will easily warm the back 1/3 to 1/2 of the boxes to a cozy 88-90 degrees. Actually it will get hotter than that if you don't use a thermostat or rheostat which is why one is required. The heat tends to be more even than belly heat which is usually in a more concentrated 3"-4" wide strip across the bottom. The heat gradually tapers off to about 80-82 in the front of the box. Our animals very easily thermoregulate with this setup and we have switched over to entirely back heated rack systems here. Is belly heat bad? We dont think so, we just like this better. If you will be setting up the 32 Qt. Sweater Box Rack in a room that is regularly below 74 degrees you may want to consider the belly heat option. On the Shoe box and STC 410 tubs the back heat will provide great performance in all but the coolest of rooms (below 65 degrees). One note, with belly heat racks you MUST place your thermostat probe on the heat tape itself. NOT inside one of the tubs. On the CB-70 rack we install belly heat standard. The extra long CB-70 makes back heat ineffective. To help give your animals a more even heat and a larger basking area we use two independently wired strips of three inch heat tape (80 watts each) placed about 6 inches in from the back. NO HEAT CABLE is used, only flexwatt heat tape. The heat tape is recessed into the shelves for years of maintenance free use.

What are these racks made out of?

RBI Plastics racks are constructed with 3/8" expanded PVC plastic. This material has a lot of very nice features. It is easy to work with, machine and glue. It is quite durable, easy to clean and stain and odor resistant. It will withstand any amount of REASONABLE abuse that a snake rack should be expected to take. Sharp impact (like a hammer) will break the plastic so don't try this at home!. Since the body of the rack is made entirely of PVC it can often be repaired with common PVC cement should it become necessary.

Will they stack?

Yes, they are designed to stack up to three racks high. On the baby rack that will give you a total of 36 boxes per stack and with the Sweaterbox and CB-70 racks a total of 12 boxes per stack while using a minimal amount of floor space. All racks come with easy to use alignment pins to keep them in place while stacked.

Will these racks sag?

No,they are constructed with 3/8" material that is quite rigid but also light weight. The racks have been designed around the unique Iris brand boxes that put the majority of weight towards the outside walls. While much lighter and more durable than melamine racks or racks constructed of 1/2" PVC they will resist sagging equally well. A little thought in the design goes a long way.

How long of a wait from the time I order until I receive them?

Many cage makers have developed quite a backlog. With the explosion of people getting into the reptile hobby over the last few years the demand for caging has become immense. When you need a rack or a cage, you need it now, not 3+ months from now. To help us keep up with the huge demand we have acquired our own in-house computer driven routing system (CNC). This allows us to maintain extremely tight tolerances and oversee every aspect of construction.

We can fill most any order of 3 or less racks in 10 business days or less. Larger orders of 6+ racks/cages are very often filled in the same time frame but may require a few extra days to fill if our inventory is low at the time. UPS ground takes anywhere from 1-5 business days for delivery once the rack has been shipped depending on your location. Please see our Transit Time Map for more details.