Last year I had a lot of success with my cal kings using a cage that for the first time I really really liked. So I thought I would share.
Each cage measures 31 x 16 inches and 8 inches high. This height is perfect to still access the back of the cage. The doors are made of 1/4 inch plexi bolted straight onto the hinges. A double bead of silicone acts as a bedding guard.
On the left side is an 11 inch piece of flexwatt that is sandwiched between two 12x12 ceramic tiles. These work as an excellent heat sink, and they protect the flexwatt. I use a dimmer so that the surface of the hottest part of the tile is about 96 degrees.
The cool side of the cage stays pretty close to room temperature. Usually about 70-72. Although in the summer it sometimes creeps up towards 76-78 on hot days.
All of my snakes get a humidity chamber. I use shoe boxes full to the top with moist spagnum moss. I put duct tape over them so that they are dark. Both sexes spend much time in here and the females lay beautifully in these boxes.
Each snake has several low profile hides at a range of different temps. My favorites are clay pot saucers and cork flats. I use aspen as substrate.
I use these cages for my avg sized 3 - 4 foot cal kings. The nearly 6 foot monster male in the second cage is only living there temporarily!
The only thing that isn't perfect about these cages is that some bedding does inevitably end up on the floor. I might replace the silicone with wood, but I think some shavings would still be pushed out. Also, drilling plexi glass doors at 4:00 am is a bad idea, as you can see from the crack that I had to silicone!
If anyone has any suggestions or advice I would love to hear it. Always tinkering and changing stuff....
