Reptile & Amphibian Forums

picture of my rough design included (i wouldnt mind seeing other peoples custom built enclosures as well)

5 ft boa in larger, 2 adult corns in bottom....is it possible to introduce another boa with the first or keep them seperate? does size matter also, even with the corns?

im still having problems figuring some things out since this is my first enclosure to be built. Also ive chnged the design a bit to include a pool 1/3 of the boas enclosure on the side opposite the lamps, it would dip into the storage. I also thought about cutting the length to 4 ft instead just for the convience of moving.

1st.
is reinforcement, someone suggested to me that with a cage so large it would need some reinforcement. it does come apart in the middle. I already planned to reinforce the bottoms of each enclosure but should i reinforce the back or just the base of the entire thing? Im assuming that i do need to do something?

2nd.
isthe heat. id like to know ahead of time how many lamps im going to need to heat each enclosure adequately. i cant seem to find any kind of equation to find out how many lamps is needed to heat a certain area to a certain temperature. i understand differant materials would make a differance though. if anyone has an enclosure the same size as either in this design let me know. or if you have any ideas on how i should heat them differantly from what i have.

substrate & walls- ive decided to use cheap laminate flooring on the entire inside of each cage, and i liked the idea of cocoa bean shells as substrate if there arent any objections to that i did get the idea after hearing it being used in a reptile enclosure and i can get it cheap where i work.

problems i havent gotten to are the little details such as hinging dors and loc king the plexiglass doors, (i dont really want to frame them) but i want the over all picture to look like a nice peice of furniture when completed, also the moldings and stuff where would i get that?

thanks so much

-Tanya-

Also i had thought to use some furniture i found for cheap on craigslist (pictures included) and possibly expand the boas enclosure. but then i would want something for the corns and i came across this corner reptile enclosure (picture also included) but although im certain i could turn the boas enclosure into something even better than my orriginal plans the corner inclosure im almost sure i couldnt duplicate to my satisfaction. i want this stuff to blend in with livingroom furinture not look like some crappy 1st time hand made thing that sits in the corner. am i reaching too far in this? i became attached to this corner one because not only does it serve as a peice of shelving furniture as well but i could add a monitor to my collection as well. ive always loved them. but give me ur advise.
i havent gotten the dimentions so i dont know which i would use yet.

Here's a couple of suggestions.

I would build a stand first then place the cages on top of that. Having a cage directly on the floor is a pain. Take my word for it I did it and would not do it again. It's difficult to clean, feed, observe etc..

Make each cage have a seperate door. It looks from the picture that you were gonna make one large door (i may have misinterpreted it). Yopu don't want to open one door and have three snakes with access to escape.

I would build each cage individually, or at least the boa one seperate and corn snake same as the boa with a divider in the middle. It will be lighter, easier to move, rearrange etc. Mount the fixtures inside the tank and wire it so you have a plug, switch etc on the outside.

I framed my glass, I thought it looked better this way. It can be probably be done w/o framing but I felt it added to the overall look of the cage.

As far as looks go, it is possible to have it look very nice. Expect to buy a high quality plywood, cabinet or furniturte grade. This plywood can be quite expensive. You'll have to stain and seal it as well. Here's a pic of some cages I built that are approximately 4x2x2. Similar to what your looking to build.

As far as reinforcing is concerned it can't hurt but probably isn't necessary I can literally stand on the tanks I built and Im over 200 pounds. i did not frame them out but built them out of 3/4" plywood and they are very sturdy, I have them stacked 3 high with over 50 pounds of sand in each one.

I might have framed out the door panel so it doesn't get out of whack with the weight but I haven't had any trouble with this yet. If I build more cages I may frame for the opening, just to be sure. If you want to be safe then frame it, you'll lose some space but it will probably last forever.

As far as heating is concerned, I am a huge fan of overhead heating in cages. I may be a bit biased but I've found it to be cheap, reliable, and easy to work with.

I use 45 watt outdoor halogen flood lamps and get a basking spot of over 120 degrees f, often times much higher. This is more then you will ever need. I actually have them hooked up to a dimmer to limit the heat. You can get them at home depot or the like. If your concerned with belly heat just put a rock, brick, paver, whatever, underneath to hold heat and it will heat up hot and fast. If you need a bigger basking area use 2 45 watt bulbs. You may want 2 for the boa cage. Heck you can always turn one off. 1 will be be plenty for the corns.

From the boa point of view. You don't need that much height. I have a lot of boas and all my breeder boxes are 2ft X 4ft X 1ft. They are stackable that away. No pools for boas. I don't add any reinforcment, just plywood, glued and nailed.

I would also like to add, that you might want to look into flexwatt for heat. If you go with bulbs make sure you cage them, so they don't get burned on them.