Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I will be building a retic cage for my 8 foot yellowhead female. I want to make this the bigest cage she will need. I am thinking about 8 foot by 36 inches. The top and bottom and sides would be 3/4 ply. I havn't decided on height or how the doors should work.

What suggestions to you guys have? I have learned a lot from this forum.

Thanks,

Mike
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1.1 Diamond X Carpet Cross
1.1 Brazillian Rainbow Boas
0.1 New Guinea Water Python
1.1 Okeetee Corns
0.1 Yellowhead Retic

>>I will be building a retic cage for my 8 foot yellowhead female. I want to make this the bigest cage she will need. I am thinking about 8 foot by 36 inches.

I always worry about long cages and the difficulty of moving them in and out of homes, around corners, down stairs, through doorways, etc.

I assume you'll limit the height to just under the width of most doorways so it will fit through. So the dimension you need to worry about is the back or front of the cage as that's how you'll move the cage through doorways.

I suggest making a cardboard template that is 96" long and as wide as the height you plan for the cage. Take that template and try to slide it around your house and see if it fits.

If it's too big you could tweak your dimensions to provide the same perimeter as the cage you are planning. In general anything that is 6.5' tall will fit under any doorway. So if your length was 6.5' and the depth was 4.5' it would have the same perimeter as the 8'x3' cage you planned.

However, that won't mean they are the same. An 8'x3' cage will have a diagonal of 8.5'. A 6.5'x4.5' cage will have a diagonal of 7.9', or just over 6" less.

In my opinion perimeter is the most important consideration for large, heavy bodied snakes. Diagonal is next most important, total length is the least important.

The main problem with a cage of this dimension is the difficulty of reaching to the back since it will be 4' or more deep. It will also waste more wood than your other design.

Sorry to ramble on about this. I believe it's important and wanted to make my thoughts clear.

>>The top and bottom and sides would be 3/4 ply. I havn't decided on height or how the doors should work.

You know, I'm not exactly sure what types of doors are considered secure for an adult reticulated python. Try the cage building links at albinoburmese.com and see if they have any specific information.

Also, post on the appropriate taxonomic forums on KS if you have not already. Once you know what type of door you want (and that will work) we can help you design and build it.

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Current snakes:

1.1 Gonyosoma oxycephala - (Silver/Yellow)

3.4 Gonyosoma oxycephala - (Green)

2.1 Gonyosoma janseni - (Black)

Thanks, that was great advice. I will ponder some more, then make another post.
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1.1 Diamond X Carpet Cross
1.1 Brazillian Rainbow Boas
0.1 New Guinea Water Python
1.1 Okeetee Corns
0.1 Yellowhead Retic

Any large snake cage is going to be dificult to move, period.

I built a 8 long 3 wide 5 tall for my burmand that was the perfect size. # feet will be the max width you can use if you plan on going through any normal door. My cage although 3 wide couldn't make corners so it was built with the ability to dismantle.

Height is entirely relative to how your animal behaves. I thought my burm would like the height to stretch and climb the huge tree limbs I put in......No way. She's a total bottom dweller. I eventually shortend the height to three and she could care less and it was cheaper to heat.

So to end the ramble build what is goingt o work for you and your snake. The stretch is just as important as any thing else.

You can always use caulk to seal the bottom edges if you make a cage that comes apart.