Opinions on baby rack(s) for a future breeder??

Red Tailed Boa's to be specific, I have been doing my homework for some time now and honestly will continue to do so since I only own a 2010 female right now BUT I am personally in no rush to breed right away. Ok the point of this post is I am saving up to get baby racks and figured while I am window shopping to get an idea of what I like I figured I could go out and get some opinions.

I have read that boas can have anywhere from 6-65 babies so I am thinking I would rather have more than enough room than realize on the magic day that I dont have room for everyone... Therefore, one of the racks I am interested in is the "thirty clear showbosx RhinoRaxx"

OR the 20

I also found this rack system from a different site holds 32-68 tubs

(which leads me to a question, once born and sexed etc does one automatically put one female in each box? so say I had a little of 30, and 15 were female and the other 15 male, Would I have one boa per box or is it common to keep some females/males in groups of 2-3 for a period of time?)

I also understand that closer to the time I will be able to call sell(ers) and speak with them and get their opinions as well but haveing multipule opinions and experiences can't hurt right?

That last one you have listed has very small tubs and is designed for baby cornsnakes and such, way to small for boas.

Any of the other ones will work. Everyone like different rack makers for different reasons, just make sure to pick one that uses good materials and does quality work. Boaphile, Animal Plastics, Reptilebasics, all make good products. There are more but those are 3 I know off the top of my head.

When I had boa clutches, I kept them in groups of 6-12, in a 15qt rack on moist paper towels until their first shed then kept them individual in a shoebox rack on shredded aspen. Once they shed and start to eat it's best to keep them individual.

Thank you very much for the response, I was thinking the same thing about the last rack but given that I had never seen a new born boa before tossed it in. Thank you for the heads up =) when you seperate them is that when you first sex them as well?? oh and do you ever have trouble tell who has and has not shed when keeping them in groups?

I like Animal Plastics racks....though I will say that I am quite happy with the Vision Hatchling rack. I'll probably add a few AP shoebox racks to my shopping list this spring, as well as another Vision Hatchling (the added bonus of the latter is that extra length let you house the babies longer...things don't always sell quickly). If you're just breeding one female your first season, you'll probably be safe with 30 tubs. I had two litters from first time females last year, and they numbered 19 and 24, respectively.

I often keep litters/clutches together until the first shed, as well. It's usually not too hard to tell, and if you can't be sure.....it won't hurt anything to leave them together for a few more days, or separate them a few days early.
When I sex the babies depends on the size of the group and what I am doing with them. If it is 5-6 babies (not talking about boas) that can easily be differentiated, or if there is a baby I am particularly interest in knowing - meaning, I am hoping for a specific gender in that combination - I may do it right away. Otherwise, it's just easier to sex the babies as you separate them.



Just as an aside - boaphile racks are significantly lighter than AP racks. For some people that is a consideration. It doesn't matter a whole lot on a small scale hatchling rack, but when you get into bigger tubs & heavier animals, I like the sturdiness of AP's 1/2" panels. (You'll notice that most other manufacturers don't offer 10 high racks in that style. Lightweight is nice at times, and you can typically stack shorter racks with no problems; so it comes down to individual preference.

Thank you very much for the detailed response... I am glad I have time to really look into everything to be completely honest I am not 100% set on breeding.. at least not as a means of making a living. I would LOVE the experience though, which is also kind of why I am keeping an eye out for used/pre-owned although I have been told going this route can sometimes leave you with not being able to get nit picky about the exact set-up you want. Thank you again for the response

Something that kind of just came to me... I am NOW thinking of maybe getting two or three 10-12 shoe box racks that are more the 15qt size since baby boas should be able to live in those for about a year right? So I can go from housing them in mini groups till their first shed to giving them their own individual boxes all in the same racking system...

Originally Posted by RedTailedDexter

Something that kind of just came to me... I am NOW thinking of maybe getting two or three 10-12 shoe box racks that are more the 15qt size since baby boas should be able to live in those for about a year right? So I can go from housing them in mini groups till their first shed to giving them their own individual boxes all in the same racking system...

Vision V18 tubs are great tubs.Very big and easy to clean and strong and wont bend.Only tub for me.Reptile racks makes racks for the V18 tubs at good prices.

Originally Posted by gottabsleeved

Vision V18 tubs are great tubs.Very big and easy to clean and strong and wont bend.Only tub for me.Reptile racks makes racks for the V18 tubs at good prices.

Thanx for the info! =D