Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I would like to double check to see if the sizes I am thinking of housing my collection before making a go. These are and for,

48x30x18- dwarf retic python
48x30x18- coastal carpet python
42x24x18- tiger rat snake

Any feedback is appreciated. Green light, red light, etc...

TIA

The cage sizes seem pretty good to me.. You might want to consider going a foot longer on the dwarf retic cage.. and maybe on the coastal carpet cage aswell. They carpets can actually grow to be pretty big 9-10 feet is not rare.

Thanks and hope this helps.

Nick
Snake and Lizard Cages

Thanks. I was thinking the general rule is the length and width of cage should be 1/2 of snakes length. So a 4x2.5 footprint is 10, which is good enough for a 10 ft snake. Am I correct?

Sorry I multiplied the dimensions instead of adding. So a 4 x 2.5 is 6.5 and it is supposed to be good for a 13 ft snake.

In general that is fine. Keep in mind that different types of snakes have varying needs.

For example, a 6ft boa is more snake than a 6ft carpet python, which is much more snake than a 6ft kingsnake (if there exists a 6ft kingsnake).

And, a boa is content to not move around alot, whereas a carpet python is a bit more energetic. A carpet will take advantage of a very tall cage with overhead heat up high above a branch for example.

Formulas are fine as a guideline, but I think the best approach is always to get as big a cage as space and money permit and taylor it to the animal being kept, rather than say (in context), "Everyone gets 4ft x 30inches because the calculation came out that way."

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Mark

Thanks I hear you loud and clear.

I've heard so many different things over the 10 or 12 years that I've been doing this I quit listening

Not really, but close. There's a few generalities by type but there's lots of exeptions too. For instance: the old 1/2 x 1/3 length...or the total perimeter being equal to 2x the length of the snake. Or one square foot of cage per foot of snake. But each of those always came with caveats like "except for heavy bodied snakes" or particularly active snakes etc. By this point I sort of start with a rough idea and go from there.

FWIW, I don't know about the dwarf retic; I've seen them in such a range of sizes...but I'd never keep a 10' snake in a 4' cage. My retics are in 6' cages, and will be moved into 8 or 10' cages depending on how big/active they are as adults. My SD (who is 5' or so) is in a 3' x 28" vision.

and there are 6' kingsnakes, I've seen a couple and am trying to grow some big florida's myself
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We wouldn't have 6 and a half billion people if you had to be beautiful to get laid.
6.6 African House snakes
3.2 reticulated pythons
.1 corn snake
4.2 Florida Kings
1.2 speckled kings
1.2 ball pythons
0.0.1 Argentine boa