Conversion of a Kallax shelf into a rack for young animals
Tristan glanz
I built a breeding rack for the young animals, mostly from leftover materials that I already had on hand. What I had on hand was:
– 4×4 Kallax with base frame
– 2 x 50 W heating cables from Lucky Reptile
– Tlinkosta Cabinet Lights COB LED Strip 6 (display case lighting)
– 1 cm high feet for the terrariums
– Heat-resistant insulating tape
– Cable clamps
– 19 mm thick, coated chipboard
I had the terrariums custom-made by Glaskörper Hein (https://www.glaskoerper-hein.de), a local company. They also manufacture terrariums for large, well-known pet shop chains. My 16 terrariums measure 33x38x28 cm.
The terrariums have a complete gauze cover. In addition, another gauze surface below the doors ensures good ventilation thanks to the well-known chimney effect.
To prevent heat build-up, the terrariums were placed on 1 cm high feet. This prevents the heating cable from touching the glass.
First, I cut a suitable board from a 19 mm thick coated chipboard panel, which I attached to the entire Kallax shelf unit as a back panel. This serves to stabilize the unit and also to retain heat.
I cut corners in the partition walls of the Kallax where the heating cable was to run and covered them with heat-resistant insulating tape. I also covered the cable route with the same insulating tape so that the heating cable would not come into direct contact with the wood of the shelf. I secured the cables in place with cable clamps to ensure that they remained exactly where I wanted them.
The cables have a heating function of approx. 5 m. I divided one cable between 8 tanks. To bridge the length, I laid an approx. 10 cm loop so that it runs under part of the terrarium, but never covers the entire floor area.
One exception is a terrarium where the heating cable runs from top to bottom, as this terrarium still gets enough heat.
This means that each tank gets 6.25W. As the Kallax is located in a heated room that is always at a basic temperature, this should be sufficient to reach the temperatures required for rearing young animals.
I applied the same principle to the light strips: where necessary for cable routing, I cut holes or corners out of the Kallax partition walls. I cut the light strips to the appropriate length and glued them above the terrariums so that the animals have not only heat but also light.
Once all the cables and lights are in place, the terrariums are placed in the Kallax and that’s it. The result is an attractive and practical ‘rack’ for rearing young animals, and it’s not rocket science to make.
Image descriptions:
01: The finished Kallax
02: The back wall has been attached
03: A closer look at the terrariums. Here you can clearly see the feet and ventilation of the terrariums
04: The way I fixed the loops of the heating cable under the terrariums
05: Another loop of the heating cable. Here you can also see the corner that I cut out of the false floor and insulated
06: A closer look at one of the cut-out and insulated corners
07: In this terrarium, the heating cable does not run in a loop
08: Here you can see how the light strips are attached.