Well, David (HighEndHerpsInc) gave you some good answers that pretty well covers everything. I don't know if I can add anything beneficial or not, but I'll try.

1) How far into the cage should the hide box extend? With an 8' tank, should it be 2' into it (being 2'8" wide)?

I like David's answer; "There are really few "shoulds" in this hobby. Just so long as the box is comfortable and feels "safe" and secure for him and is of a size that allows for his inevitable growth over the upcoming years, it will be fine."

I generally make bigger hide boxes as the snakes grow. It's widely believed that a close-fitting box makes a snake feel more secure than one that is twice the size of the snake.



2) Is 10" tall enough for the hide box for a adult male? I want two 10" levels in it - one damp, one dry, and then be able to rest on top of it if he chooses. OR I'll do 14" levels. The top being the damp one so as he can stretch out in the lower... And would a ramp be helpful for him to get into the top level when he's bigger since it is about a foot off the ground... I'm thinking no, but I'm no expert... lol!

Same answer as to Q #1.


3) How often should you feed a 6.5' burm? WHAT should I feed him to help get his weight up? Should I use huge rats, small rabbits, med rabbits? What's the cheepest food source - frozen ordered, or raise own rabbits? I want to provide him as much good food as he needs while making it the most cost-effective.

David, please forgive me for my plagiarism. Here again, I think David nailed this one, too.
"For a 6.5 foot burm I would suggest one large rat every 7 to 10 days or so. ...... The cheapest source of food is to raise it yourself. Rats are the cheapest and most prolific of the larger genre of rodents ..... You can also breed your own rabbits with almost as much ease but they require more specialized caging and maternity boxes for less feed output."

I say 2 lrg rats every 10 - 14 days, which isn't much different than David's recommendation. I also say raise rats till your burm gets about 10 feet or more then switch to rabbits if you want. Rats do produce more prey per cycle, time-frame, than rabbits, though.



4) How much bigger around should he be? He stretches just over from one end of a full-size couch to the other. Could someone post a pic of a healthy-weighted 6-7' burm so I can know? He's also not all that heavy to hold, but he's a great feeder and I know he'll eat what I give him... The last owner power-feeds most of her snakes, so I'm kinda surprized he's underweight, tho not TOO much since he does require large food...

I agree again with David: " If you want him to bulk up do it patiently over a length of time with a very healthy diet that results in muscle development and not fat. He will become robust, thick and strong with the above mentioned diet regimen."

I'm not that good with judging, guessing, weight, but I'll say that your burm is probably only 3 - 5 pounds underweight. It won't take long for it to make that up.

Here's the link to some pics of my two adult burms taken about a year or so ago. Burm Pics In the very last pic I'm holding the male that was about 7 1/2ft long. It looks bigger around in that pic than it actually was, though.

The pic of me laying in the floor with the female stretched out alongside of me was taken when the female was about 8 1/2ft long.


And as for the cage itself...
1) Does he need substrate? I don't think so, while Tony does ("all snakes need substrate!". How would you clean the cage with the substrate?

Doesn't need a natural environment-type substrate, if that's what you mean. I've found that newspaper is cheapest & quickest to replace, clean up after.


2) Would lanolium work well for the floor?

Yes, but the wooden floor still needs to be protected, sealed, with something like a water-based polyurethane. The vinyl should also be sealed around its edges to keep fluids off the wooden surface below.


2b) If the cage started as two 4' sections, what is the best way to water-proof the seal between the two halves? maybe Tony has an idea...

Some people use "kitchen and bath silicone/caulk" and some use an exterior grade silicone, like Silicone II (2).


3) How does removable ends sound? The ends would slide up and down with either runners or just tabs to hold it in place, and in the bottom ones there would be bolts to hand-tighten so as to hold it in place (hole in tab, hole in end-slab, depression in side of cage for bolt to hold onto). That way I can easily extract the hide box and water bowl from the side(s) for cleaning, or to get the snake out if side-extraction would be easier... It might also make it easier on him to get to the feeding box if that's what we do... We'll see.

Gotta quote David again: "The less-complicated your cages are the fewer problems you will have throughout the time you keep your snakes. Try to keep the designs as simple as possible and everything will be a lot easier with many fewer problems."

Sliding glass doors across the front, going the majority of the cage length, work good and are pretty much the norm.


4) For air flow, we're thinking that along the top (and maybe the back - unsure) we'll put screening between two layers of 1/4" or 1/2" plywood and have either holes or thin strips all accross it so as there can be ventalation without the chance he can break out. Would this work? Or maybe should we use fair-size holes with strong hardware cloth? I think we'll also put a vent in each of the ends, too, just for air flow.

(David) "Never place your vents on the top or too near to the top. Heat rises and all your heat will flow out the top the same as water would pour out of a container with a hole on the bottom. Keep your vents about 6 to 8 inches above the floor of the cage and this will cause your heat, the snake's heat to be trapped inside but will still allow for adequate ventilation."

Ditto!

Take care!
HH
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Due to political correctness run amuck,
this ol' hillbilly is now referred to as an:
Appalachian American

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