Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I am getting ready to begin my project for my adult male ball python. I've never made a cage before and am kinda new to it. My dimensions are going to be 3'Wx2'Dx15 or 18"H. The cage will of course be from plywood with either the front, top, or both swing-open panels. glass will be cut for almost the entire front, and 2 others for the sides(only about half of the side space though). I plan on cutting up my old screen top for my ventilation(1'Wx2"H" on each side), with the top being solid except for my incandescant fixture and a place for my heat lamp. I will be cutting the floor and replacing with glass large enough for my UTH, and then covering the inside with linoleum or some type of panel. One of my questions is is the linoleum would be able to stand the heat from my uth(which is underneath cage on glass)? Another is, should I use a substrate or will the paneled floor be sufficient? I am currently using Cage Carpet for his 55gallon home. Anyone have suggestions to improve my design or tips for me? Sorry for the long post. Any help would be appreciated. Thanks in advance.

~Clint

Well you wanted suggestions..

Forget the UTH and glass on the bottom. Wood cages insulate well, so heat from above will heat nicely.

I would use two fixtures mounted on the inside ceiling of the cage. One fixture mounted to the ceiling directly, and one mounted on a spacer (like a 2x4) so it is lower than the first. The lower one can be the basking area providing higher temps to the snake below. The higher fixture will help keep the background air temp from dropping too low.

You can probably just use 30 watt Pearlco ceramics to do the job, and a thermostat for one of them, and a dimmer for the other.

You must get some hardware cloth (screen) and make a cover for the bulbs and fixtures. This isn't very diificult at all with the 1/2" square mesh. Make a paper model with one piece of folded paper, then use it as a template to cut the screen.

The top of the cage can have some small screened vents, as can the back.

Those are my suggestions for a ball python, being that they require air temps above 75 and a basking temp of up to 90. My BP does fantastic with a ceramic bulb as the heater. It really seems to benefit from that type of heat.

Another suggestion - use a radiant heat panel from the Bean Farm or Pro-products.