Reptile & Amphibian Forums

My indigos are about 4.5' in length, and I think it's time to move them out of their 28q Sterlite containers into real cages. Does anyone have any cage recommendations? Should I go with a 4' cage, or just get the 6' that I'll eventually need anyway? I have 4 indigos, so cost is also an issue. I prefer to get one of the plastic cages instead of melamine.
Any suggestions are appreciated.

Hey,

I have kept Drymarchon in all manner of containers,from Neodesha plastics to melamine and molded injected plastic cages( (Read:Visions) I personally like the plastic cages:Bottem line, easier to clean and easier to move around. At the size you indicated your Drymnarchon were now(I beleive you said 4.5 feet in length) you would be well advised to move them into 6 foot plastic cages. The four foot cages wil suffice, to be sure, but you will end up spending twice again the amount of money for another set of cages when these snakes hit their maturity and grow into the six foot range.Larger cages,in my opinion, allow the animal much more room of movement,and I have found the incidence egg binding in Couperi that are kept in large(6ft or larger) cages to be lower than those in 4 foot cages. This is just an observation that I have made and 'Im not sure if the other fellows here would concur.

Haveing said all that, the six foot cages have SOME drawbacks. Visions 6 foot model lacks structural integrity, and must be kept in a homemade "Rack system" or the cages buckle under the weight of the cages or anything substantially heavy placed on top of them. They also come in diffrent depths, the deepest ones can be a true pain to clean ,especially the BOTTEM cages. Habitat systems used to make some *Really* nice cages, not sure if they are still in business. I have used plastic, mainly visions with good results. Buy 6 foot cages for your Dry;s, youll need them eventually anyway.

*Cheers*

Fred Albury

My indies are just shy of 5',nearly two years old. They are in 6'x2'x2' cages. they have been in them since they wre about 3',9months old. But this is my first try at raising indies. I just finished modifying one cage with a slide out hide underneath the cool end and a basking light at the warm end. My cages are custom built out of 2" styrofoam insulation board, wich has been laminated with white plastic panneling, and all cracks sealed with silicone. Temp. is controled by a digital proportional thermostat with 65wt. flood light, and a desert rays heat pannel. 85 in the hot zone, and 60s, 70s in the cool zone hide, 80 in the warm hide. Temps in the cool hide depend on room temp. Right now upper 60s- low70s. Top of cage has a screen windowabout 6" wide the whole lenth of the cage.
I don't know if I have the recipe just right, just yet, but my snakes are eating, pooping, drinkig, shedding, and growing! But they still don't come out much. I don't know if it's their age that still makes them a bit shy or what, but they mostly only come out to poop, get a drink and back to hide. So I don't know if it's realy nessecary to move to a bigger unit until they are over their juvinile shy stage. Dean, Doug whatya think ?

Sounds like you are doing a hell of a good job.

If they are almost 5' at 1.5 years old, they are doing just fine.

As for the shyness...it's probably just the age factor. My younger animals hide ALOT more than the mature snakes.

They may also be coming out when you are not around...they are awfully shy when young. Even my 01 snakes that are over 5.5' still rattle their tales at me when I look at them when they are out basking. THey do come out a lot more than the '02 snakes though. They just rattle their tale at me and if I don't go away they shoot into the hides. Once they are like 4-5 years old...they just kind of look at you curiously...or approach you hoping you have food!

Your description of the cage sounds great. Eating, pooping and growing are signs you're doing it right.

If you want to see your snakes more, feed them less. Sounds like You've got them on optimal growth right now so probably not worth messing with something that's working. However your snakes are getting near full grown so you will be able to cut back a lot pretty soon.

You'll see your snakes out a lot more when they're hungry and looking for food.

Doug T

HI - I have 3 easterns one large 8 yr male one smaller 9 yr female and a 3 yr female. The Male is close to six foot. Female about 4 3/4 feet. I purchased two cages from Cages by Design 8ft x 24 x 24 & 6 ft x 24 x24 GREAT CAGES (Took a while to figure out how to put them together) expensive, but Fairly light (considering the size) and they provide a great environment. Cages by design built the cages to my specifications and offered good options. They will be big enough for the life time of my snakes. The best part is they are easy to clean! As we all know that wonder aroma. Check out there website.

good luck Mark