Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I am trying to plan out a cage that i will be building for my redtail, Chloe. I want this to be the only cage i ever have to make for her. She's only about 4ft and living in a 20 long right now so i'm having trouble visualizing how big i really want this to be for a full grown snake.

I want it to be a very visual piece with a nice cabinet and canopy. I was thinking the enclosure itself (without the canopy and base) at about 4' wide x 4' tall x 2' deep. should i go bigger? is this excessive?

We're planning on building a new house soon and i need something practical sized for relocating.

That's plenty big enough, it doesn't even need to be that tall. 2' tall would be plenty.
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JMHO, FWIW, YMMV.

You might want to go to a 5' length if it's female, 'just in case' she turns out on the larger side. 4'x2' really's the 'minimum' size I hear recommended - can't hurt to go a little larger. I probably wouldn't build it so high, though.
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-audri
Webpage/Pics

I agree that for a large female, 5ft is better. I agree 4'x2' is the minimum floorspace. However, with a cage that is say 30 " high, you can have a basking shelf. This shelf effectively increases the area for your boa. So, you can get away with 4'x2' if you build a sturdy and sizeable shelf with a basking lamp up there on top.

There are a few ways to do this. One interesting way is to put a piece of wood as if you are dividing the cage into two cages top and bottom. But, the divider will have a sizable hole cut out of it. You can make the hole round or do an irregular cut to make it more interesting. Thus the snake has two compartments to hang out in. Just a thought if you just can't fit a 5ft long cage where you need it to go.