Reptile & Amphibian Forums

(also posted in Asian & European Rat Snakes)
hello.
i am building a new tank for my bueaty.
he is 5'2" and currently housed in a 72" x 20" x 13" top acess glass tank. i've had him for little over a year, before that it was only corns i was fostering. he came from a friend of a friends friend type situation and was going to also be adopted out but i just couldn't let this one go. no idea what age he is, or if it's really a he.
i'm building a new tank because, 1. he'll need it, and 2. top acess only i find horibble for maintanace on such a giant scale.
recently a buddy of mine replaced his windows and said they were for the takeing if i could use 'em. it would make for a funny lookin' tank but i'm not picky. they seem salvageable but before i dive into mapping this thing out i wanted to find out if they were even a good idea to use. i'm wondering if the glass might be a little thin, does anyone have a good measuement to gauge that kind of thing by? also wondering if putting the heat light source inside the tank this time around would be smart either. concered he might burn himself playing with it. he's a climber! i don't mind spending money when it's for a good cause but i'd also rather use what i already have if i can. just less wasteful.
any other advise would be wonderful. this will be my first time building a massive snake tank. i do have experiance on other enclosures however. i've noticed bueaty's have diffrent requirments then other snakes do because they like to run around and climb, anything else particluar to these snakes i should incorperate into the design? he really is a wonderful guy. one last thing, i have cats who also love to watch him so mesh or screens of any sort are not an option!
thank you.
wisp

My main concern with using old windows is that you might not be able to support them enough in order to open them.

Also, if they are the crank open type it might be hard to get a squirly beauty snake back inside. They open and close too slowly.

I don't have a lot of time to reply right now, but I will suggest you at least consider using the current tank.

I have seen a few examples of secondary cages set on top of large aquaria which make for very nice enclosures. The maintenance would only be slightly improved, though.

these are really old windows that are just a frame with paneled glass. they had opened like cabinet cupboards with a hinge, no slide. they remind me of children’s drawings; a square with a cross in the middle. they need some work to be useable; new caulk, paint and replace a few of the boards.
me and the current tank don’t get along. it’s narrow enough that even with a few branches running down i have to pull practically everything out just to change the water. a real hassle when all it needs is a rinse out and fill up. the entire tank is awkward for both of us. he wants more to climb and prefers sleeping off the ground, i want easy bottom access. also, i am 5 foot nothing and i’d like not having to get on a stool to play with my beauty, much less clean the thing. i plan on turning it up for a gargoyle gecko house or donating it.

Since you are considering transforming some old windows into the front of cages you seem to be considerably handy. Here's an idea that i'm going to use to build an enclosure for my blue beauty when the time comes. (How old is yours by the way? Mine will be one year old on the 27th and is right now about 3 feet)

Anyway, this idea came from chris harper origionally... go down to home depot and get yourself some hollow core luan doors. these things are very sturdy, cheaper than buying 1/8" birch, and since they are machine pressed they are perfectly square.

I'm going to take one 36" wide door to make the top of the cage, then tak another 36" wide door and i'll cut it to make the sides. After you cut it, you will need to glue a piece of wood inbetween the sheets of luan, of course. Then i'm going to either take another full door for the back (probably, this will give it the most support), or run a 2x2 along the bottom and staple on a piece of 1/4" luan to the back. Then put some cheapo trim around the front and staple some FRP to the bottom.

I've priced this out, i'm looking at right around $100. Just for the basic frame (doors, FRP, and trim wood.) Then i'll have to get paint (another $20) or maybe stain and poly over it. sliding doors are going to be the most expensive thing in this cage. I'm expecting to probably fork over $80 - $100 if i use 1/4" glass, however I want to find some 1/8" track.

For the building such a big cage, I think this is an awesome idea. It will be really light, not too terribly expensive (the ones I built out of 3/4" oak ply are really heavy and expensive...)

you should look into it.

Here's some links chris sent me a while back. this is the basics on building out of doors...

http://riobravoreptiles.com/howto_easyrack.htm

this is a picture of a finished cage, however mine will be horizontal

http://www.philodryas.com/galerie/Terras1.JPG
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Chondros and colubrids... my 2 favorite types of snakes!

"Life is hard. Life is harder if you're stupid." - John Wayne

hey, that's pretty smart. i like. thank you very much.
still looking for a glass thickness gauge from anyone.

another side thought, has anyone made a snake house that is easy to dissassemble? i have a habit of moveing every couple years so it could make life a little easyier.

(How old is yours by the way? Mine will be one year old on the 27th and is right now about 3 feet)
no clue on his age. his life story is somehow my brother's tattooist came across him who had a shop out of his house, so lots of playing with customers
then he went to my brother's girlfriend who never feed or handeled him
then when she moved i got him, it's been a little over a year. he has fattened up (in the good way) and growin' like a weed. however, he is still squigaly at first but lots of progress and that's all for now.
-wisp