Reptile & Amphibian Forums

my friends uncle owns a custom cabinet and counter top company and offered to build me a custom enclosure for my juvinle peach throat. i was thinking something around 7 foot long 4 foot wide and 8 foot tall. im going to heat it with a couple difrent heat panels each on there own thermastat. i just dont no what type of materail to use, do to the humidty and moisture. im also going to add in computer fans screened of on timers for air movment. i was hopeing i could get some sugetions or pics of other peoples cages. and do you think that size cage would house two peach throats comfortably. i can always change the size. just want to do this right the first time.

Check out the FAQ at our site, specifically the metal trough FAQ, and work from there. There are pics of Mike Stefani's peachie setups, based around the troughs.

Use halogen bulbs for heat, not panels, and don't install fans.

The single best piece of advice would be to pass on a fancy cage and just keep it as simple as possible. You are going to screw it up AT LEAST the first two times, as it sounds like you are starting from zero custom caging knowledge.

Everyone goes through a rough learning curve when building large caging, it is just about inevitable. Better to get the learning done with a simple and affordable setup, rather than try and do a nice high end setup that is horrible for the animal and husbandry, and useless for the future.

Use a metal trough as your base, and use your friend's knowledge to make a basic box around it that will address husbandry concerns, not visual people concerns. Learn from that, improve on the subtle details, and then plan for the fancy pants cage later.

Best of luck!
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robyn@proexotics.com

ShipYourReptiles.com
Pro Exotics Reptiles

dont take this the wrong way but i dont get whats so speacial about a metal trough with a box around it. and i dont understand why you would use bulbs over panels. and why no fans. they way i see it is heat panels are safer easier to controll and verry accurate and if placed wright give a great thermal gradient and cant harm your animals. fans help stagnet air even if on for a few minutes a day. and the trough with a box around it. i would think a melamine cage would not mold rot from humidty and also holds great humidty. sliding glass doors i agree my custom green tree python cages get substrate in the tracks but shop vac makes quick cleaning of that. i no you are verry succesful with what you do. but dont really get the reasoning of steering away from these products. and again please dont take this offensive im not the best at wording things thanks

>>dont take this the wrong way but i dont get whats so speacial about a metal trough with a box around it.

What's so special about them is the fact that they can hold moist substrate 20-30 inches deep and with the drain plug slightly open you have drainage, keeping the soil fresh with no mold or fungus or stagnant water building up at the bottom.

Melamine laminated wood rots, warps, and falls apart from the high humidity of a monitor cage.

Get creative if you like and improvise, but start with what works and is proven and then improvise.

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Mike Heinrich,
Mike@amazontreeboa.org
www.amazontreeboa.org

thanks for the reply ive never had one do that to me yet. mine are going on 7 years or so with the humidty around 80 percent for about 16 hours a day i didnt now counter top material rots and warped good to no. so i guess you couldnt do some sort of false water bottom with fine metal grating of some sort.

>>thanks for the reply ive never had one do that to me yet. mine are going on 7 years or so with the humidty around 80 percent for about 16 hours a day i didnt now counter top material rots and warped good to no. so i guess you couldnt do some sort of false water bottom with fine metal grating of some sort.

IMO, you can't go wrong using something that's proven. Robyn spoke of my best friend Mike Stefani. Mike has successfully reproduced peachthroats in trough cages.

A false water bottom? No, you want moist diggable borrowing substrate, preferably about 2 feet deep.

Here's some photos I took over the years....

And some results of his efforts...

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Mike Heinrich,
Mike@amazontreeboa.org
www.amazontreeboa.org

wow verry nice what type of wood are they using so it dosent rot or are they sealing it with something. sorry for all the questions i just want to do it right thanks

One thing to remember, peachies have claws and will rip right through melamine in no time leaving it exposed to the moisture.

Cheers

Steve
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Steve

I agree with Robyn, start simple and learn the behaviors of the monitor before you get creative and expensive with caging. I use to keep Green tree monitors and used a 6ft. metal stock tank and built on the top with cheap fiberglass panels and aluminim L channel for framwork with aluminum pop rivets holding it together. It was not much to look at but was simple,cheap and worked well along with a misting system incorperated. I dont have any pics as it was years ago but I do build custom caging and zoo exhibits so I have seen both sides of the coin. The best product to use in bulding a cage if you decide to stray from the tub Idea is HDPVC [high density PVC] that comes in 4ft by 8ft. by 3/4 sheets and cost about 180.00 per sheet but it is water proof, only downfall is it gets a bit flexable or weak when heated to much. Go to my site WWW.Herphatch.com and look at the cage we designed and built for a 16ft. green anaconda, Now that is about as fancy and functional as it gets. It has maintained a healthy snake for 9 years now in a place where temps fluctuate between 140F and 32F. Of course some deep pockets are needed for something like this. I start simple and cheap with all my monitors caging, funtionable is everything for the long haul.
Good luck, Robert