Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I have a 7.5' red-tail who is a might bit aggressive, but has never tried to get out of his cage...until last week. I have a nicely built cage, with a crappily built lid...but it worked. Unfortunately, he found out he could get out, and has escaped 3 times.

We have him in a room that is closed, high windows, and no way out, but there are 8 other cages in the room, and he crawls around/over them and knocks over lights and such.

I'm wondering if its safe to put him in the bedroom (the one without the other cages) during the day. The door is locked, with no opening between the door and carpet. Windows are locked and blinded, and there is very little in the way (that couldn't be moved). This arrangement would only be until I could build a better lid.

I've also thought about picking everything up in the closet (HUGE closet, 5' wide, 10' long, putting a few climbing toys and a water bowl, and just letting him stay in there during the daytime. No windows, and a tight door, and nothing he could hurt himself on. I know a lot of people let their burms and retics just run around the house, and while I don't like the idea of free roam, whats the consensus on giving them a 'room' to run around in for set amounts of time?

Especially since he's going to anyway- until I can fix his cage.

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1.0 Saharan Uromastyx (Jaina)
1.1 Armadillo Lizards (Turbo & Jet)
0.0.1 Chinese Water Dragons (Indra)
2.2 Ball Pythons (Scooter, BigBoy, Fatman, Wookiee)
0.1 Red Tail Boa (Killer)
1.1 Emperor Scorpions (Hacker & Chopper)
1.0 Rose-Hair Tarantula (Hera)
0.1 Stripped-knee Tarantula (Zeus)
1.1 Gerbils (Pinky, Factory) ^_^

I don't see the problem with letting them roam free for certain periods of time, I let mine do it sometimes. Although I am a little worried that the room in the picture is the one he's roaming free in. With the rat cage and the knives on the shelves, there will be a day where something goes wrong.

...but only till you can either fix the lid or buy a new one...
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1.0 c.b.02' 6' Pastel Colombian Boa(thanks Bill!)"Maverick"
0.1 c.b.06' 17" Firebelly x Pastel boa "Betty Boa"
1.0 wc/captive raised 3' Savannah Monitor "Ozzy"
0.0.1 wc 1'Savannah Monitor "Uggy"
1.0 c.b. 04' 4' Everglades x Yellow Ratsnake "Pooh"
1.0 c.b. 05'2' Snow Corn "Zero"
1.0 Oscar 10" "Jaws"
"...does it bite?"

look carefully for any escape, like attic access or subfloor access?
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Thanks,

Dave Colling

www.rainbows-r-us-reptiles.com

0.1 Wife (WC and still very fiesty)
0.2 kids (CBB, a big part of our selective breeding program)

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

lots.lots.lots feeder mice and rats

Maybe it is just me...but what is going on with this lid! It can't be that hard to fix, or at least adjust so that the snake does not exit! I'm sure the closet would be fine, but you need to heat it, and the amount of effort it would take to set up the space properly is probably more than it would be to just fix the lid
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Thanks,
Amy
www.myboids.4t.com
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1.14 Normal ball pythons
1.0 Pastel ball pythons
0.0.1 Sinaloan Milk Snake
0.0.1 Plains Garter
0.1 Normal Kenyan Sand Boa
2.0 Anery Kenyan Sand Boa
1.0 Mid-Baja Rosy Boa
0.1 Leucistic Texas Rat
1.2 Dumeril's Boa
1.2 BCI
That's Just The Snakes!

Free roaming reptiles isn't the smartest move. It leaves the animal open to causing problems, like finding an escape that you didn't know about (if its there they will find it). It would be far easier to just order an enclosure that is manufactured specifically for reptiles. That would alleviate the escape issues.
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Randall L Turner Jr.
Boas make the world go round.

Can we see pics of the actual cage, he's escaping from?
If it were me, I would use a extra large (locking if available)tub as a temporary home. Lids can be a quick 20 min fix. Heck, you build a whole cage in a few hours. All you need is pre cut melamin, screws, hinges and plexi glass.

Alright, so its not QUITE so bad as it sounds. The keeping in the closet idea is only for 2 days. Tonight I'm in a seminar for 4 hours, tomorrow I'm moving, but may be able to do it. I can fix it in 2 hours after getting the right materials. Prefab for this size is $200 that I don't have to spend this week.

As far as the previous pic, that was just the snake on our kitchen table for pics. The closet we'd be keeping him in is 5' X 10' with absolutely no attic door, floor panel, etc. The door has less than .5" between it and the carpet, and that is absolutely the ONLY exit.

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1.0 Saharan Uromastyx (Jaina)
1.1 Armadillo Lizards (Turbo & Jet)
0.0.1 Chinese Water Dragons (Indra)
2.2 Ball Pythons (Scooter, BigBoy, Fatman, Wookiee)
0.1 Red Tail Boa (Killer)
1.1 Emperor Scorpions (Hacker & Chopper)
1.0 Rose-Hair Tarantula (Hera)
0.1 Stripped-knee Tarantula (Zeus)
1.1 Gerbils (Pinky, Factory) ^_^

Would some hardware clasps fix it? If so, could be a very quick fix.
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Thanks,

Dave Colling

www.rainbows-r-us-reptiles.com

0.1 Wife (WC and still very fiesty)
0.2 kids (CBB, a big part of our selective breeding program)

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

lots.lots.lots feeder mice and rats

1. Looks like the lid sits flush on top of the cage. Could you screw on 4 (one on each side of the cage) hook and eye or hasps or something, so that you could latch the top onto the cage?
2. Possibly even quicker and easier might be to screw on a couple of sections of 2x4 to the outside top of the long sides and then get a couple of bungees to stretch across the top and hook onto the bottom of the 2x4's. That should keep him from pushing the top off as well
3. Is the closet door a regular hinged door or one of those flimsy hollow-core sliding ones? If it's a regular door and you decide to go the closet route, you should be ok, but like others have said, triple check that there is nowhere in the closet that he could get himself into (or out of!) and cause problems. And obviously make sure he has water and appropriate heated areas. That's a big area to keep warm.

Billy

>>Alright, so its not QUITE so bad as it sounds. The keeping in the closet idea is only for 2 days. Tonight I'm in a seminar for 4 hours, tomorrow I'm moving, but may be able to do it. I can fix it in 2 hours after getting the right materials. Prefab for this size is $200 that I don't have to spend this week.
>>
>>As far as the previous pic, that was just the snake on our kitchen table for pics. The closet we'd be keeping him in is 5' X 10' with absolutely no attic door, floor panel, etc. The door has less than .5" between it and the carpet, and that is absolutely the ONLY exit.
>>
>>
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>>-----
>>1.0 Saharan Uromastyx (Jaina)
>>1.1 Armadillo Lizards (Turbo & Jet)
>>0.0.1 Chinese Water Dragons (Indra)
>>2.2 Ball Pythons (Scooter, BigBoy, Fatman, Wookiee)
>>0.1 Red Tail Boa (Killer)
>>1.1 Emperor Scorpions (Hacker & Chopper)
>>1.0 Rose-Hair Tarantula (Hera)
>>0.1 Stripped-knee Tarantula (Zeus)
>>1.1 Gerbils (Pinky, Factory) ^_^

Thanks guys. Think the hook/eye clasps could be a real quick fix. I also want to add a 1"X4" frame around the current frame, for extra support and weight, and a 2"x4" (since the 2 1"x4" will be 2" thick) on either side of the cage itself. Once that is done, I can put hinges on the back, and locks on the front.

Thanks for the great advice!
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1.0 Saharan Uromastyx (Jaina)
1.1 Armadillo Lizards (Turbo & Jet)
0.0.1 Chinese Water Dragons (Indra)
2.2 Ball Pythons (Scooter, BigBoy, Fatman, Wookiee)
0.1 Red Tail Boa (Killer)
1.1 Emperor Scorpions (Hacker & Chopper)
1.0 Rose-Hair Tarantula (Hera)
0.1 Stripped-knee Tarantula (Zeus)
1.1 Gerbils (Pinky, Factory) ^_^