Reptile & Amphibian Forums

this weekend a friend and I would like to build a few stackable boa cages. like a boaphile or vision style but out of wood, with sliding glass doors in the front.

I have a basic Idea in my head for the project but I have never worked with sliding glass or tracks before. so any advice would be appreciated. I know that you can pick up tracks at the hardware store (at least I think so) do you just build the cage and then figure out what size tracks you need? do you have to get the glass custom cut? or do they sell different size combos of tracks and glass? whats the best thickness of glass to use 1/4"?

any tips or direction from your experiences will be appreciated...thanks in advance,

Eryk

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I prefer 1/4" Laminated Safety Glass, with large boids the tendency to pop glass out of place is easy. Most glass track allows vertical movement to remove the piece of glass. I have boa's that have done just that.

With Safety Glass it will usually survive the fall. Unlike tempered which will shatter and plate that will break. Safety Glass also has the advantage over the other two in impact strikes. A large Boid can really pack a hit into the glass, if it where hard enough to break. Plate Glass would present a danger due to the sharp shards of glass, and tempered would shatter requiring a replacement pane. Safety would crack but hold fast, containing the animal and giving you time to acquire another pane.

Last consideration is accidental impacts from brooms, mops, trips, thrown balls, toys, etc. You never know who what or when something will hit the glass, Safety Glass gives me that extra layer of protection.

Cheers
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Jeremy Payne
JB Reptile
Boa Morph's since 2007

1.0 Snow "Khal"
0.2 Triple Het Moonglow "Khal"
0.1 Orange Tail Hypo Het Leopard
1.1 Double Het "Sharp" Snow
1.0 Ghost
0.1 Possible Super Hypo
0.1 DH Ghost
1.1 "Khal" Albino
1.0 Hypomelenistic
1.3 Pastel Hypo
0.1 Suriname/Columbian cross
0.1 Anerthrystic

I agree with all of the reasons that Bighurt gave you. I'll add that with safety glass it is easy to have a beveled (aka pencil) edge applied which allows the glass to slide better in the track. This is not so easy and the results are not as good with tempered glass.

Tracks often come in different lengths but you can cut any of them to size. For a boa cage I assume you'll use the basic plastic track. I don't believe it is worth paying for the aluminum roller track unless the glass will be quite tall and large.

You'll need to have the glass custom cut, and I recommend not having this done until the cage is assembled and you know the actual rough opening and exactly what size glass the track recommends. The last two tracks I have used both recommended glass to be cut at 7/16" shorter than the rough opening, IIRC.

Some people like a bit of extra security with stronger snakes so they wait until the track is installed and then cut a template from 1/4" hardboard or plywood. The idea here is to find the absolute largest size that can be wiggled into the track. Bighurt may have some more thoughts on this as he keeps Boa constrictors and I believe has at least one large female that has been in a couple of different sliding glass door cages.

To have the glass slide smoothly make sure to have at least the bottom edge beveled as mentioned above. I try to have both top and bottom edges beveled so the glass can be inserted in either direction.

I also treat the plastic track with either silicone spray or paste wax. Beeswax would also work. Both beeswax and most paste waxes are food contact safe so they are probably the better choice.

One other thing I do is to cut the ends of the bottom track with a very slight miter. This allows you to use a brush to move debris to either end and out of the track. The miter only has to be a very gentle angle to be effective. You can have that angle face the front so debris can be brushed out of the cage. I have the angle face the inside of the cage so it looks more uniform from the front of the cage.

If this does not make sense, picture looking down on the bottom track. It would be shaped like a trapezoid. Lik this, but long and skinny:

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Currently keeping:

6.10 Gonyosoma oxycephala (Javan, mixed colors)

1.1 Philodryas baroni

1.0 Rhodesian Ridgeback

thanks for all the advice guys, thats the info I was looking for. if I get this thing together this weekend, I'l post some pics of how it turns out.