Vision (1756) Racks

Well, I've had one of these set up & in use for a few months now...and, frankly, I don't like it very much. Where to start...

I purchased 2 of the 1756 racks - these are the ones that use the 32 qt sterilites (it is the same rack as the one for the 15qt). No problem putting it together, but there was a bit of sway to it - even after everything was tightened down and the wheels locked. The boxes sit on the shelves, making them more similar in concept/function to an AP Economy Rack than ARS or FB.
They came with 1 package of heat rope per rack. My first shot at running the stuff left me at about halfway through the rack, and out of rope. Luckily, my intent for this trial was to utilize the rack in my main snake room. The room itself is about 84 degrees, so all I needed was enough to provide a hot spot for the BPs that would be housed in the boxes. As such, I ran a minimal amount on each shelf...and still didn't have enough for the whole thing. (No problem, I just put other things that didn't need supplemental heat on those shelves). For whatever reason, most of the balls housed in that rack became sporadic feeders (yeah, I understand that they are BPs, and the time of year...but these were my BEST feeders). OK, I can live with that, too. So far, the problems have been minimal, and nothing worthy of condemning the rack over...BUT:
I have now had 3 escapes from the rack (all found without difficulty) within 3 months. In each case, the BP managed to push the tub out - presumably using the shelf above for leverage - enough to make a getaway. There were escapes from both the 32qt and 15qt boxes.

My plan is to take my saw to the other rack, and cut a shallow channel in each shelf for heat tape. If I like that better, I will do it on the one currently in use. If I don't like it, I will pull the heat off entirely and use it for brumating my bullsnakes.

Overall, I am fairly disappointed with the new Vision racks. They certainly aren't horrible, and they are inexpensive; but if I had it to do again...I probably wouldn't - mainly because of the escapes.

Well, here we are, almost 2 weeks later, and I have had 2 more escapes from that rack. I ended up setting up the other rack with the heat cable today(I decided that I needed supplemental heat on a few possibly gravid critters, and that was the easiest option. Now, I have one with just 32qt boxes, the other with just 15s. The two racks side by side take up too much space in my snake room, and limits access to one of my monster racks .
On the positive side, running the cable the way I did, I had enough for just about the whole rack (I was a little shy on the top shelf I'll check temps tomorrow to see if I am satisfied. I think I may end up cutting in some new channels for the cable, so I can put it where I want it (and I suspect that I will be able to decrease the risk of escapes by then adjusting the placement of the tubs).

Thanks for alerting me to this rack problem. I will stay with the black PVC racks with pins from other suppliers. I have some Sterilite #1754/1756 racks from Boaphile but they do not have restraining bolts/pins. Is there a simple way of making a hole and a pin for them?

Well, its just over a month later - and there have been a few more escapes.
Of all the complaints I have heard about these racks, I don't remember anybody else mentioning this...I must have a bunch of highly skilled escape artists (though, now that I think about it, one specific snake HAS gotten out at least twice - I think it is now 3 times, counting tonite. I think she just earned herself a different home)

Just drill and use a wooden dowel for a pin?

Do you believe that the heat rope had or has an adverse affect on the snakes appetite?

No, I don't. It wouldn't serve as a heat source in an unheated room (at least not in the quantity supplied), but works ok...I really didn't have any problem getting the temperatures where I wanted them.

make that an adequate heat source in an unheated room

I have this rack (the 10 shelf 32qt model).
The heat cable it came with - I didn't even try to use it. I gave it to a friend.
I ran flexwatt heat tape. I'm currently using it for 5 Cal Kings and have 5 unused spaces (I haven't run heat tape in those 5 spots yet).

The smallest king in the rack is over 30 inches - so far, nobody has escaped. I would not use it for small snakes however.

I like the rack. It would be nice if I could buy it without heat cable though - I don't like the stuff.

I purchased one some months ago (11 levels). I am sorry, but I was extremely dissatisfied with the product and talking to a representative brought no satisfaction.

I had to purchase some more heat cable to be able to do the entire rack to my satisfaction (they gave me two 50 foot cables). My animals did not escape, but the humidity was so bad because of the wide open space (I don't have a temp controlled facility), that I GAVE it away (actually traded it for 3 Female BPs).

I just wanted to get rid of it, because it was taking up space and I couldn't trust it.