Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I'm planning on building a new cage for my 10 foot female burm this summer and wanted some advice or suggestions as to what yall think about my first sketch of it. I want to have a wood frame with some kind of plexi glass on all sides except maybe the back. Is there an easy way to be able to make it easier to take apart and reassemble in case I have to move it. Also do burms like to burrow in their substrate? My burm is still in the cage I got her in and they way its built she can't really burrow but I wanted to know if they like to or not because if so I have to rethink the doors on the front and maybe move them up a foot. This will be the first cage I've built but I'm getting help from a carpenter friend and I know I'll have to make adjustments to the plans as I go along but any comments on this first draft are greatly appreciated.
Thanks
Katy

I've found that my big girl (around 12-13 feet) likes to 'hide' in the covered part of her cage (she's currently in an 8'L X 2'D X 2'T cage I built out of melamine). She only has windows on the front, and half the cage front has curtains over those doors for a secluded area. She spends about half of her time in the curtained off area, whether under her basking lamp or just past it in a slightly cooler area. I've found that most of my smaller snakes like a bit more seclusion than a glass aquarium offers, or even a cage with multiple clear sides, so that they don't feel so exposed. I see them out more than when I kept them in tanks, so the opaque sides seem to benefit them. I now cover the sides of what tanks I still use so that those snakes get the same sense of privacy (for lack of a better word) that those in my Vision cages or melamine cages get. I figure the same preferences would apply to large snakes as well.

I've never known either my large female or my yearling albino to try to burrow or hide under the substrate - when I used one that could be burrowed under. I use cotton sheets now (easier to clean and still look nice enough). As long as they have a secluded area, either curtained off as with my big cage or a hide for a smaller one, they do just fine. In regards to your cage plans, I wouldn't worry so much about making the cage taller (2 to 2 1/2 feet is plenty tall for adult burms as they don't climb) but I would make it deeper (at least 3 feet). My current cage is only 2 feet deep, and it's a bit cramped for my big girl, but I built it with materials I already had on hand (as my big girl was an unplanned adoption). As money allows, I intend to build a deeper cage (3 feet deep) but hoping to build one 4 feet deep sometime in the future when I have the floor space so I can give her as much room to move around as possible.

Good luck with your cage building! It's pretty rewarding to look at it and know you built it.
Raven

My only to quations o nthis cage is the fact that it is only 2.5' deep and 5' tall. I would recommend making it atleast 3' deep and limit the height to about 2'. You are going to run into a real problem with trying to maintain proper heat and humidity levels with a 5' tall cage. The second thing is if you use plexi-glass on most of the sides and front then the cost of the cage is going to be a lot. A sheet of plexiglass 3'x6' cost right around $60. Just a heads up before you get in to far and can't make the changes. Hope this helps, Todd

I agree with Todd; put more floor space and less height. Our burm exhibit is 12' wide by 4' wide and only 3' high. This cage is heated by a large Pro Product Radiant Heat panel and lighted by 48" full spectrum fluorescents....this cage is nice and toasty with great humidity (made by Habitat Systems). Good luck

Pretty good, better than my first draft on my cage...but on the top, dont have holes, heat rises. On the sides of the cage, put a little 4x4 or 4 x 2 vent(like the ones you have in the ceiling, on the outside, with 3 holes under the vents(3 holes on top optional).Id keep wood on all sides, plexi on the front with a sliding track with some sort of lock, and a lexan bottom.