Reptile & Amphibian Forums

OK I am leaning on just getting the male just as a pet, I am not to worried about breeding, just a thought. I still need some housing tips, if I only get the male Tell me if this would be a good way to do it.

1) 8'x6' room.

2) Linolium flooring that goes up 6" on all the walls.

3) Sliding glass patio door leading inside and a normal door leading outside.

4) Viewing windows (viewing from indoors only)(around glass door).

5) Bath tub for water source.

6) Making a climb tree/jungle gym out of PVC pipes (6"?, or would I need bigger?) I would either make a base out of concrete so that it cannot be tipped. I was thinking of filling the pipes, but fear it tipping anyway and crusing the poor guy.

7) Plastic Igloo house made for dogs for hides.

8) Recessed lighting (with extra around basking area with heat bulbs).

9) Fake plants and vines.

Also I was trying to think of a way to make thee PVC pipes look like bark, is there any safe way to do this? If not, no biggie, always function over form. Time to criticize me, I need it, I am new to Burms and am used to making and filling BP enclosures! LOL BIG difference LOL. Also I have read probably 600 Burm care sheets and have YET to see something about humidity, what is the right humidity, and do you have a GOOD care sheet? I will be buying the book, but until then I would like to read up on some good care sheets. Just to let you know, I don't have the Burm yet, so no yelling about I should have prepaired for all this before, I won't have him untill at least next year. Thanks in advance! Krystal
My site (Complete 4 now?)

it sounds like you have a nice size cage you want to build. have you thought of how your going to heat it. i mjust got my heat panel in from pro_products and i love it. and for your water sorce a bathtub seems like a good idea for an adult but what about a baby. it might not beable to get out. it seems to me like you are going to get a older burm to start out with but i could be wrong. im guessing you want a more natural look to your cage. you hide spot for him should be small enough for him to feel snug and safe to unless he was really big you might want to go with something smaller. as for the trees ive never seen a large burm in a tree. there just too big! ok as for plants thats going to be hard to keep alive cuz he's just going to slither all over them. for your flooring you have a good idea but the trick is water proof (remeber they pee like a horse) so your best bet would be one solid peice of flooring thats cut oversized by about 1 foot, then you going to have to cut a "v" in at the corners to make them fit snug together. the use a bathtub caulk and run a nice bead on all the corners and any cracks.

ok i believe thats all you asked about.
everyonce else feel free to comment on this
andrew

I will be getting him as a hatchling and will keep him in a seperate cage untill he gets big enough for this one, maybe portion a part off of the room? I think I have a good Idea of how to make the bath tub work better and even work for him as a hatchling. I will work on that and post my idea later.

Heating was going to be the recessed lighting some with heat bulbs, some for lightt, different switches. I would like a more natural look, but it is not secessary if it will effect effectivenss. The dog igloos for small dogs I believe would be a good size, but I could be wrong, a bit big for a Chihuahua should be good for a burm? I was going to use fake plants, I coulden't keep a plant alive with miracle grow, let alone with the snake romping on it LOL. I guess I never thought about burms being to big to climb LOL. Just trying to make the room look less bare, I guess I could put a big flat (staralized of course) rock in there, that would help.

"your best bet would be one solid peice of flooring thats cut oversized by about 1 foot, then you going to have to cut a "v" in at the corners to make them fit snug together. the use a bathtub caulk and run a nice bead on all the corners and any cracks. "

That was my plan.

yes i know we all have problem with the cage being bare.. mines just news paper, half a shoebox and his water bowl. its very sad looking , but if you were thinging about the rock idea why not try to make his hide out of rocks it would be really nice looking and very simple for him until he got really large. just get 3 of the flat yard rocks and stack them. as for the plants the other problem would be him knocking them down you would have to find a way to keep them inplace.

I was thinking about making the hide out of rocks.

and you are right about the plants ... concrete bases? or attach them to large rocks also?

well i cant think of a way you could attach them to a rock. what kind of plants are y ou thinking about. like trees? the best what to do that would be to have a wide base such as a 5 gallon bucket or something about that size cintering the plant and pouring a few inches of concrete in, let it dry and cut off the bucket. or actually cun the bucket ant the top of the concrete that way if it pees next to the plants you wont have to clean the concrete just wipe off the bucket

You can make a very narrow shelf (too narrow for him to climb up on when bigger) and put the plants on it.. You can get the longer fake vines and ferns that will hang down to give you your plant needs and also you will not need to worry about him trampling on them... Also on the tub Idea are you going to just have it setting on the floor or will you make a gradient with something..(Like rocks and concrete).... Good luck setting up the snake room when you do it....

Oh one other thing..you will not want to put a small burmese in a room that size, even a "cut down" version of it...the snake will be more edgy and nippy when you enter to take care of his requirements...Later Randy T.
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You never experience life until you have kids..then you realize what you should have done rather then what you did do

I like the plant Idea, I was thinking of making the gradiant out of rocks or even wood, but yeah definitly a gradiant.

I can't say I have personal experience with big Burms, but I do have good second-hand experience from a friend of mine For humidity, I have always heard that 60-65% is a good range to shoot for (Bob Clark's website has a very good caresheet for Burms, http://www.bobclark.com). For a hide, I'll tell you what my friend uses - he went to a craft/interior decor type store (Michael's? MJ Designs? something like that) and bought some big woven straw baskets - turned them upside down, cut a little entrance into them, and presto - nice, cool-looking hide (he found one that was woven so that it looked like a big coconut half). Just an idea - lots of sizes available; cheap to buy and replace/upgrade, a little more natural-looking than plastic. Your plans sound cool; lucky snake!

Thanks!

I dont like the Rock hide ideah. Burms get heavy and might push them over or make them fall. They could get hurt. I use those small plastic dog houses ya see at the pet store , they look like little iglues. Also the tile floor thing. I dont know. Even caulking the seams will not keep urin from soaking through the seams and geting under the floor. making a verry smelly germ filled cage. the acidity of it will eat through the calking and seep through the cracks. i found that out when i did the same thing.
I now use a Substrate Called Jungle earth. It's a Tropical terrarium Substrate that is verry soft and mossy. It holds humidity great. I used to have a problum with getin the humidity over 50% when i was using news paper. But now i have no problums keeping the cages over 80% humidity Without Misting ! I havent missed a cage in a year since i started using this product. It's made by Exo-Terra. It's kinda expencive though. 25 bucks for a bag to cover a 8x4 cage 1 inch deep.
And for the bathtub idea. How about a Outdoor garden Pool ? they fit flush to the floor and are easy to keep clean. Just make a riser in your cage and cut out a shape to the pool or your choice and drop it down flush with the floor. It looks alot better than most pans or Bathtubs , and more natural looking.
I dont have any cages as big as yours but. Here's some pic's of one of my Male Burm's Cage. It's a 8x4x3 foot cage. Please dont judge my Photographic skills , i know i suck already; )
Seth Mason....

Just follow this link ,, The Picture trail thing didnt work Brian.
Seth Mason...
Cage pic's

I said I would use the igloo type dog houses, I thought it would be a good idea, I thought of that way back like weeks ago.
I was not going to use tiles, 1 solid floor piece that goes 6" up on the walls.
I will most likely be misting.Just seems easier to me.

With the bath tub Idea, I was thinking the same, but a outdoor garden pool with a drain and a bathtub spout,ect... so it is easy to drain and wash and fill! Not to mention instant room temp water vs. Freezing water.

Those are nice pics, I am just going to build the room onto my house, not bothering to find room for such a huge cage! I will just ad on to my house! LOL

To start off this post is exactly like one in the Retic forum. You want to provide your burm with as much room as possible. However, I'm sure it never crossed your mind that you could give to much room. Many people use 8'x4' as a standard for big snakes. With the exception of the big ones 20' and up. That is way to big of an enclosure. There are many tiny subjects that snowball rooms into big problems. One is heat, it is hard to heat big room size enclosures. Then other is smell, large constrictors=large smells. The main problem with rooms and i warn people of this all the time is feeding. Call it a stereotype but,people tend to convey mammalian like intelligence qualities in burms because of their placid dissposition. The fact remains however that when your burm gets a scent of food, your golden retriever like snakes becomes a lethal weapon. In a traditional style large snake cage you have a sliding door to sheild you when feeding. In a room however, whats blocking you nothing. "Well I'll feed it in another room or in a feed box". Thats not going to happen when the scent hits that room unless your nuts and like bites and possible constricion. Most large python attacks in this country happen in the open or in room style enclosures think about this before you give Bertha the second bedroom.