For a boa constrictor you'll want something pretty tough due to the humidity requirments as well as the fairly caustic urates a Boa produces. I'm sure you already knew that.



And I think your idea of leaving it natural colored is a good one since birch plywood is very hard to stain and happens to look great as is. Just avoid any finish that is designed to amber slightly over time. That looks great on some woods but birch is not one of them, IMO.



For a apply it and forget it interior, I would recommend starting with a plastic floor. It will be covered with substrate so the appearance won't matter.



Do you have any intention of using a undertank heat source or are you sticking with an overhead radiant source? I can give more info on plastic floors once I know your heating plans.



At any rate, for the visible areas of the cage I would use either a water-based epoxy or urethane. But not the stuff you buy at Home Depot. You'll want something better for a Boa, especially if you don't want to recoat every few years.



I can think of two products available on the West coast.



One is Envira-Poxy made and distributed by Kelly Moore. It is a concrete floor finish used by Boeing in their hangers but is suitable for nice woodwork. You should be able to get it for about $40 per gallon if you ask nice. But it only comes in gallons, which is a problem.



Another product is BonaKemi Traffic, a two part catalyzed polyurethane designed for floors. It is also hard to buy in small quantity but maybe you can find a flooring distributor with their own installation department and they can sell you a smaller portion of the urethane and catalyst.



Both products are extremely safe and incredibly tough, but not something you can purchase by the pint. However, if you have a garage floor to seal it might be nice to have some of the EnviraPoxy lying around. On the other hand, the Bonakemi might be nice if you have hardwood floors to finish at your home. Or either product bought in bulk will be nice if you have more cages to build in the future.



Another scenario would be to buy a smaller quantity of a one-part polyurethane. They won't be as tough as the above products but in conjunction with a plastic floor things should still be okay. And if you did need to refinish the cage a water-based poly makes it pretty darn easy.



Two of the better waterborne polyurethanes are made by General Finishes and Fure. Both companies make several products so I'll have to do some digging to figure which are the good ones. I do think they are worth the extra money over readily available WB polys from Minwax and Varathane. And they should not be hard to find in Sacramento.



Sorry to ramble on. Let me know you intentions with the heating and I can give some advice on the floors.

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