Reptile & Amphibian Forums

This site is difficult to search on but I'm looking into biulding a new cage for my 8 Foot Female Argentine Boa. Right now she's in a 36" x 18" x 18" aquarium but I'd like to build a 4' wide x 2' deep x 4' tall cage for her. I've heard something about not using pine somewhere but I can't find any good info on why.

Any help would be great!!!

Thanks,
Chris

Laminated pine, pine boards, or pine-laminated plywood are all safe to use, especially once they are sealed (necessary with a Boa anyways). It's pine shavings that can release phenols due to their significant surface area. So use what you want.

Are you wanting a decorative look are you really just concerned with functionality?

Melamine coated with contact paper is a very easy and cheap way to build boa cages. You could probably build a sealed cage in just a few hours without having to make a cut.
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Current snakes:

1.1 Gonyosoma oxycephala - (Silver/Yellow)

3.4 Gonyosoma oxycephala - (Green)

2.1 Gonyosoma janseni - (Black)

I've done some more measuring and I'm going to go with a cage that's 5ft wide and 2 ft deep and 3ft tall. I'm going to have a built in waterfall and pool and a cave for her to hide in and a shelf above for a basking area. She loves to climb branches so I need it taller than the 18inches that she has now. I was looking and a lot of people have used Medium Density Fiberboard but it's a lot heavier than the pine boards they have already cut at Lowes.

Well I'll post pictures when I get to building it next weekend.

Thanks

Using pine boards is not going to be so easy to make a cage 2 ft deep. That means you'll most likely have to join two 12" boards, my opinion is a bisquit joint is your best choice.Or use a 45* miter cut to each butt end.
MDF and humidity...not a good combo IMO.
How about good old fashioned plywood? Lowes can make cuts right there in the store. And you go home and attach it all.
One final recommendation...dont make your cage so big.
It'll be easier to heat it, and keep it humid.
I know with my RTBs, they dont climb at all. So no need for so much height, unless you plan on making a nice habitat display.
Let us know how it goes.

Lowes has pieces of 3/4" Pine board in sizes 24" wide by 24" up to 72" long. So If I can use it I would like to and stay away from Plywood because I'd like it to look nice in my livingroom. My Argentine loves to climb in branches and is very active at night so when I can't take her out of her cage she needs to have room to move. She will probably get bigger so I'd like something big enough so that I don't need another cage.

Thanks for the input on the humidity. I'm not worried about having problems keeping it warm I just needed some ideas on what to build it out of to keep it safe for my Boa.

>>Lowes has pieces of 3/4" Pine board in sizes 24" wide by 24" up to 72" long.

That is edge-glued pine. Sometimes called laminated pine. It is basically a series of pine strips that are glued together. I build a small bookshelf for my girlfriend from this material and it was easy to work with and looks nice. Now it holds some plants outside and has been rained on all summer. Remarkably, it has still held up. I'm quite confident it will work great for a snake cage. but it will need to be sealed and when you seal it the laminates really show up. It is not the most natural look for a snake cage. Definately attractive, but just a different look.

>> ...so I'd like something big enough so that I don't need another cage.

Nothing wrong with building a larger cage. Heating and humidity can be more difficult but it's certainly still possible. Personally I would stick with a 2'x4' floor area simply because lumber tends to come in 4' increments and I hate wasting wood. Also it makes it easier to have the grain oriented vertically in a tall cage, something I prefer.

>>So If I can use it I would like to and stay away from Plywood because I'd like it to look nice in my livingroom.

Umhh, some very high quality cabinets are made from plywood. I have made a handful of very attractive cages from laminated plywood.

Here is one that I made originally for a friend's Jungle Carpet Python. It is made from cheap oak-laminated plywood.

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Current snakes:

1.1 Gonyosoma oxycephala - (Silver/Yellow)

3.4 Gonyosoma oxycephala - (Green)

2.1 Gonyosoma janseni - (Black)

Thanks for the picture... I'm planning on building a rock wall on the back and a waterfall into a little pond big enough for her to get into when she's going to shed so most of the wood will be covered up inside. Yes that's the pine I was talking about.

I used it to build an open topped cage for my Mali Uromastix a couple years ago and it was really east to use and stained really nicely. I left it outside later on as a feeding box for my Boa for 2 winters and the box still held up pretty well.

Thanks for all the help!!!

Here's the cage she's in right now

Now I know exactly what type of boards we are talking about.
My experience using them, is that these boards and humidity and humidity dont get get along. I have had a high incidence of warping.Sealed or not, the temps of a herp cage, and the humidity are all going to eventually cause the glued edges to separate.Much faster than you might think.
I'm with Chris on this one...I would use a high quality 3/4" plywood. I have found that oak, and maple plywoods are the same cost as birch. All making very attractive enclosures.
Are easier to work with, and resist warpage and damge better than laminated pine.

Well I've decided to go with Melamine which I just checked and they carry it at Lowes so I'll go with that.

Here's a picture to really show how big she is compared to her cage. She's 8ft long and all wound on the branch.