Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I like the idea of a small watt bulb in one side of cage for light as lots of those plastic cages dont offer light.
I also wanted a clear front door not hinged look in middle.
Anyone ever use this type cage -http://www.precisioncaging.com/caging.htm

Would like any input on it.

Its for an arizona mt king so looking into 36 inch size.
Thanks

I know of 2 mfgrs that use High Density Polystyrene (HDPS) plastic to make cages: 1 is www.precisioncaging.com and the other is www.herpcages.com. Herpcages also makes racks.

This material is typically used in the 0.1" to 1/8" thickness for most cages 3ft and under. It is very tough, rather rigid, very light-weight and very white in color. They heat easily and don't leak when washing the inside.

There are 2 drawbacks, if you consider these drawbacks. The first is that you pretty much can only have acrylic doors. Not that this is bad persay, but some applications might be better suited to glass (i.e. lizards). The other drawback (again, it is a matter of perspective) is that the cages are so light in weight, a small child can easily move or topple a stack down. On the other hand, the light-weight makes it easy to place the cage almost anywhere, even on Ikea furniture .

I have some herpcages.com cages. They work great.
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Mark G

Posted by: markg at Thu Mar 31 17:58:26 2005 [ Report Abuse ] [ Email Message ]

I know of 2 mfgrs that use High Density Polystyrene (HDPS) plastic to make cages: 1 is www.precisioncaging.com and the other is www.herpcages.com. Herpcages also makes racks.

This material is typically used in the 0.1" to 1/8" thickness for most cages 3ft and under. It is very tough, rather rigid, very light-weight and very white in color. They heat easily and don't leak when washing the inside.

There are 2 drawbacks, if you consider these drawbacks. The first is that you pretty much can only have acrylic doors. Not that this is bad persay, but some applications might be better suited to glass (i.e. lizards). The other drawback (again, it is a matter of perspective) is that the cages are so light in weight, a small child can easily move or topple a stack down. On the other hand, the light-weight makes it easy to place the cage almost anywhere, even on Ikea furniture .

I have some herpcages.com cages. They work great.

You hit that nail right on the head. Those doors scratch if you sneeze in their direction. I had an old 36 inch neodesha type cage with the acrylic door . I wasnt careful back than cleaning it,etc and it had a ton of scratches.
This time I will becareful and its for a snake like you said a lizard would scratch it to shreds.
I just looked at herpcages.com to but found the precision cage 24 inch was overall bigger as it is 20 inches wide while herpcages only 12 inches.
I did like the herpcages top screen is it metal screen or plastic? Can you safely put incandescent light ontop of it ?
Do you heat your herp cage with an UTH ? I was concerned about plastic and Uth warping/melting it.
Precision only offers light from the inside but I imagine a 30 watt bulb would be safe. Its going to be for a display type cage not stacking or breeding so want some type of light.
Even if its a red bulb as not to bother the snake.
thanks

>>You hit that nail right on the head. Those doors scratch if you sneeze in their direction. I had an old 36 inch neodesha type cage with the acrylic door . I wasnt careful back than cleaning it,etc and it had a ton of scratches.
>> This time I will becareful and its for a snake like you said a lizard would scratch it to shreds.
>> I just looked at herpcages.com to but found the precision cage 24 inch was overall bigger as it is 20 inches wide while herpcages only 12 inches.
>> I did like the herpcages top screen is it metal screen or plastic? Can you safely put incandescent light ontop of it ?
>> Do you heat your herp cage with an UTH ? I was concerned about plastic and Uth warping/melting it.
>> Precision only offers light from the inside but I imagine a 30 watt bulb would be safe. Its going to be for a display type cage not stacking or breeding so want some type of light.
>> Even if its a red bulb as not to bother the snake.
>> thanks

Herpcages.com uses metal screen if you get the screen option. You can put a light on it, no problem.

I used undertank heat. You must use a thermostat. If you heated these cages enough to warp them, then you probably would have killed the reptile inside. Thermostats are a must for any cage really, but any plastic cage especially.

A 30 Watt bulb in a Precision is safe and probably plenty to heat the cage without the need for any other heat. Mtn kings do not need temps over 80 anyway, so you are for sure good to go.

BTW, snakes don't scratch acrylic doors, so with care you should be fine. I have a 4-year-old Precision in my garage I just realized last night, and the door still looks good. Both mfgrs use really good quality acrylic for their cage doors. Not that Home Depot junk.
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Mark G

Thanks for the great help. Now that I know precision is well made and you told me same for herpcages going to decide tonight.
I hope this doesnt turn into some type of reptile addiction that I now stack up cages and begin to breed them lol.
I am going to look at both sites with my wife later(she "likes" snakes to) and pick one .
Thanks a lot.