Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I was wondering, I've seen lots of stacked cages for snakes and they don't seem to be very high. I want to build a "stacked" cage and fit as many reptiles as possible without it having to go too high. One cage with hold a Columbian red tail, one will hold 2 blood pythons, another 2 balls, another a viper boa.I know the cage holding the blood pythons won't have to be too high, I've got them in a tank that's 2 foot high and that much height is not needed since they barely even move. but I'm not too sure about how high the columbian and call pythons cages should be. I want this to be able to hold them full grown, any help is appreciated, thanks!

Its custom so the height is based on what you want. Or are you looking for a recomendation?

Personally I build all my cages the same way, a stack of cages designed to fit floor to ceiling. Basically I take the hieght of ceiling "x" minus 1" for space above and another 1" for space below (mine are on castor's). Than I take and minus 6" again for a space below the bottom cage this base of sorts holds power cords and gets the bottom cage off the floor. I than take the resulting number and divide it into the amount of cages I would like. If the resulting number doesn't meet my needs for litter dams and front sliding window, I go back and change teh resulting number of cages and start that is my resulting cage,

Kind of weird but I thought you might like to see my train of thought.

Couple of things to kep in mind are litter dams and front windows. I consider a 12" opening to be the min, for any type of door. I prefer taller but when space is not a luxury we can only do the min. Also my reptile room is only 83" floor to ceiling so my overall cage stack isn't to tall, I myself am a little over 6' tall so I also don't mind the taller cage stack. You should keep that in mind, using a stool to clean cages can be tiresome.

I also use paper as a substrate so my litter dams are only 2" tall in my boa cages. If you use something else you will want to change that number to reflect. Fo something like aspen of cypress I would recommend a litter dam 2" min over the top of the substrate. So with 2" of substrate and the 2" space you litter dam would be 4" give or take depending on cage constrcution.

Feel free to ask more questons we are all here to help.

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Jeremy

"I am become death, the destroyer of worlds" July 16, 1945 Robert Oppenheimer

1.1 Double Het "Sharp" Snow RTB's
1.1 Hypomelenistic RTB's
0.2 Pastel Hypo RTB's
2.0 Double Het Stripe Albino RTB's
0.1 Suriname RTB
0.1 Anerthrystic RTB
0.0.10 Red Bearded Dragons
1.1 Rhinoceros Iguana's
1.0 Green Iguana
1.0 Ball Python
1.1 Cream Golden Retrieviers
1.0 Pomeriaian
0.2 Catus Terribilis
0.1 Spouse
1.0 Child -coming soon-

Another height point, for your uppermost cage(s) however your design is, you should be able to easily see in. Otherwise a stool will be required just to check on the animal. My snake room has full 8' ceiling. I leave 1.5 to 2 feet of open space on top of my stacks. I store stuff up there like cage liners, tubs and lids. You could make the upper cage taller for an arboreal animal. When stacking cages, some mechanical device to prevent slipping is nice, either pins or I have even used a dry "biscuit" joint. Lastly, depending on your needs, the cages don't have to be all the same height.

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Thanks,

Dave Colling

www.rainbows-r-us-reptiles.com

0.1 Wife (WC)
0.2 kids (CBB, selectively bred from good stock)

LOL, to many snakes to list, last count:
12.24 BRB
11.13 BCI
And those are only the breeders

lots.lots.lots feeder mice and rats

Hey Big hurt, that's the style cage I want to build. The main reason I was asking about the height is just wondering what the minimum is for my snake. I was looking at some commecial rack systems and noticed there are some only 12" high. My blood pytohons don't need any climbing room bc they barely move out of their hides at all, but My balls and Red tail may need more because they are more active. Anyways, I think I'll do 12-16' high for the blood and maybe a little over 16 for the others. Thanks for all the info guys, The 2 of you have some great looking set ups!

Thanks!

Also forgot to mention for less aboreal species you can add a shelf in the cage to allow some more room to spread out. This is something I have considered in my new cages that I will be constructing this winter. You can keep the same front window but add a shelf towards the back, again just another way to add floor space. For Bloods, Balls, and Boas a terrestrial cage is really all they need. Its rare to see any of them climbing on branches, but some people have them in their setup's again personal preference.

The cages pictured are 18" high but with 2.5" front litter dams the windows is about 13". I think they are just about perfect for 4' cages. My new cages will be 5' for smaller females. If you like the old you will love the new!

Let us know if you need anything else.
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Jeremy

"I am become death, the destroyer of worlds" July 16, 1945 Robert Oppenheimer

1.1 Double Het "Sharp" Snow RTB's
1.1 Hypomelenistic RTB's
0.2 Pastel Hypo RTB's
2.0 Double Het Stripe Albino RTB's
0.1 Suriname RTB
0.1 Anerthrystic RTB
0.0.10 Red Bearded Dragons
1.1 Rhinoceros Iguana's
1.0 Green Iguana
1.0 Ball Python
1.1 Cream Golden Retrieviers
1.0 Pomeriaian
0.2 Catus Terribilis
0.1 Spouse
1.0 Child