Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I am considering purchasing 2 boaphile combo cages with expandable ends, to be connected together as one cage for my 10' burmese python. Each cage is 8', making a 16' cage for her. I would like to know if anyone has had experience keeping massive, powerful shovers like burmese, retics, rocks, etc. in boaphile cages, specifically, can the doors on these cages keep these snakes in? I spent a good number of hours looking through the entire website, and all I could find was that an extra center lock or latch was recommended. Even with this, I have a hard time believing that a 1/4 inch sheet of acrylic could contain such a powerful animal. My python is female, so she will get much bigger and stronger than she is now. Any stories/comments/opinions would be appreciated. She is currently in a cage made out of an old 400g aquarium and growing like a weed, I need to decide sometime soon what her next home will be.

I could also use some advise on how a boaphile cage of this size is best heated for a burmese python. Detailed info would really help; I have had reptiles for about 7 years but always kept them in aquariums converted into cages, I have no experience with anything besides overhead incandescent heat bulbs. The 'heating options' page of the boaphile site described the heating elements well, but there was little info on where exactly the heat is in the cage, etc. And, the web page states that the cages should be kept in temperature controlled rooms. This is not always possible for me, my apartment is very old and the gas wall heater does not have a thermostat. And the heater is in the living room, nothing for the bedroom. In the winter the temps inside my bedroom (snake room) can drop as low as 45F when I am sleeping or not at home. I do not trust space heaters. So, I guess my question is, if extra heating options are installed, to be used only during the winter, can boaphile cages be sucessfully heated in cold rooms?

Sorry for the long question; I just want to do my homework before spending the large amount of money this cage will cost...Thanks!
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Heather J. Martin
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1 Solomon island ground boa, female
1 Green iguana, male
1 Green anaconda, juvenile
1 Burmese python, 9', female
2 juvenile het for albino BCI

nah, you don't want a boaphile they are flimsy. go with ap www.animalplastics.com ap's cages are 1/2" thick plastic. i have 5 of their stuff i love them. or maybe try monster cages.

Hardly,
Boaphile's aren't meant to keep anything large. 1/4 plexi will by no means hold a large animal that wants to get out, let alone stop a hard strike at the door.
I know someone personally who had a large female push through 1/4" lexan(100x stronger than glass), shattered like it was nothing. She did this by pushing herself up against the back of the cage pressing her other side up against the door.
Animal Plastics are the way to go. They are a better buy for your buck and will last ALOT longer housing burms.
At a minimum, a large burm will need either an 8x2x18", or a 6x3x18" enclosure. The size that you choose will depend on how much exercise you plan on getting her. My snakes all come out for 30 minutes or so of exercise in the winter a week (in a warm room) or up to an hour supervised outside time in the summers.
As for heating, animal plastics gives the option of under cage heat, which is heat cable routed into the bottom of the plastic (roughly 1/3 of the cage,) and will run you $40.
You could also look into pro-products radiant heat panels. They are an expensive buy, but will last for a long time.
Pro products will quote you a price for the panel dependant on the size cage you plan to heat.
As far as the room goes, you can always seal the windows with plastic, or another option could be to cut to size pink insulation board to fit the window interior, then cover with window plastic. This will help to cut down on drafts from the windows. Oil filled radiator type heaters are pretty safe, but draw a hefty electric bill.
Hope this helps.

I build most of my cages so I don't know about the brands.

But for heat I like to use the larger Kane heat mats with big boids. They are durable and give a nice even warm spot. If you do go with a 16 foot cage I would put one at each end, leaving the middle a little cooler.