Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I'm still in the planning stages of building my own wood cages for snakes (2 kings, ball python, carpet python, and dumeril boa). Thought I read somewhere in the past about an idea where you cut holes in the "floor" of the cage giving the snake access to an area between the false floor and the real floor. This would double the effective area of the cage without much extra construction and gives the snake the same choices of hot or cool hide area as if he were up above in the main cage. Obviously I'd have it accessable when the door is open for snake removal and/or cleaning. Anyone have any experience with this idea? Pros/cons?

The only cons to this design are the extra material which make the cage more expensive and heavy.

I'm not sure if I understood your post. I'd have a separate door for the sub-floor space (if you have one at all for the sub-floor) and another for the main cage.

BTW, you can also have a tub for a water bowl in the sub-floor area to save even more space.

I think this is a pretty slick design. It's been used for over 20 years with great success.

I figured you have to have a door for the subfloor or you'll never be able to get the snake out while he's down there. For simplicity I was going to have one bottom hinged plexiglass front door and just black out the portion which covered the front of the subfloor so it would be dark and private in there.

::I figured you have to have a door for the subfloor or you'll never be able to get the snake out while he's down there.

Actually, you don't need a door for the sub-floor area. Many people leave that area open and just slide their box out just like a lidless rack system. If you use a solid colored box you can offer the same amount of security you mentioned.

However, if you like having a door so it can be locked and visitors don't pull the boxes out, etc., a door over the subfloor is a good idea.

::For simplicity I was going to have one bottom hinged plexiglass front door and just black out the portion which covered the front of the subfloor so it would be dark and private in there.

Sounds like overkill when you could use left-over material or a piece of lumber that will look nicer and cost less than a piece of acrylic.

Actually, I hadn't considered having a slide out tub or box down there but that's a great idea. Easy to clean, easy to get out snake, no need for a door. The only challenge for me (extreme novice woodworker) would be getting close enough tolerance between the tub and the floor above that the snake couldn't squueze out. None of these decisions are black and white are they!!!

The tolerances are not that difficult to build is if you use a pre-cut spacer. I'll post a link later showing what I mean.

If this is for a smaller colubrid species the tolerances are more important. For large colubrids and/or boids you the gap does not have to be very tight at all.

You always have the option of building the gap too large and add thin pieces of wood, plastic, or whatever until you get the gap you like.

Don't make the mistake of making it too tight (the most common mistake by first time builders).

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when you build the bottom part,just place your tub on the floor and the board you will be making your entrance hole in on top and mark where it fits snug and screw it in place.

Pic didnt turn out to well,but heres one i build about a month or two ago,the whole space can be used (since added locking latches have been put on bottom door),or i can fit a rubbermaid in the bottom...