Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Hi,

You know I was just about to order a boaphile cage for my dwarf retic. I noticed that Neodesha is back in business!!
I guess now I'm comtemplating a Neodesha versus a Boaphile.

I was thinking of purchasing the 4 foot slant by Neo or the 4 foot Boaphile. Does anyone have experience with these two cages?
Please let me know what you would recommend. I just want to make a wise investment decision. These cages can get expensive : )

Thanks,

Peter F.

I have a bunch of Neos. I love them all and plan to get more. For my money they can't be beat.

The 4-foot slanted model is great. Lots of wide-open viewing space. Very easy to clean. Plus, tempered glass doors (no plexi). You don't have to worry about the doors breaking if you use Quat Plus to clean/disinfect the cage.

If I were getting that cage and using it in a normal room temperature environment I'd heat it with a 12 x 18" Pro Products radiant heat panel. I would also consider getting two side vents instead of the two top vents.

Anyway, my vote is an enthusiastic Neodesha.

Bill

my vision cages will be around years after most reptile cages have cracked and fallen apart.

The model 332 ships thru UPS and has a large floor space because it is 28" front/back.

I raise boas to 6/7 feet in the 332 and then move up to the larger sizes.

The slant-front Neo gives you total visibility and access, which is great for snakes that are aggressive or unpredictable - i.e. some retics! I have one that is about 6 years old, and I love it.

Hello. First I wanted to let you guys know I went to Neodesha.com and came up with a site for neodesha the town... in case anyone is reading this the site is neodshacages.com

Anyway... I am asking them a bunch of questions but maybe someone with experence can answer...

Do these cages have a way to get cords from the inside of the cage to the outside? I don't want to use a stick on "pad" I just want to use a mat that you lay in the cage. So I would need to have a way to make a hole wide enough to get the plug out and then close it. Also would want to put a probe from a thermistate in.

how about floresent lighting? I know snakes don't necceeraly need uv but my vet made a great case for at least full spectrum lighting (which I can get at a hardware store... is like sunlight, and I know mine like sunlight.)

How large are the racks? the only thing about not stacking cages on top of eachother is they will take more room. I was looking at the 24" display and I wondered if anyone knew how far from the wall with a rack that would be.

Thanks
- Sharon

Those cages drill easily. I cut the power cord, drill a 5/16" dia hole in the cage, run the cord out, and splice the cord back to the other half. Otherwise, you can get cord grommets from Home Depot and use a hole saw of the correct size, but only if not housing small snakes that can slip out of the grommet notch..

The 24" Neos are about 12 1/2" deep, but their display rack extends out about 22 inches if I remember.

Thank you.

It's a little to complex for me... and I won't touch rewireing something. (splice back togther.)

After I wrote this I was thinking maybe if they put the top "light vent" on one side or another then I could go the route of heating via overhead light instead... I tend to use real rock, bricks etc in my cages and so the surface would be heated up well for belly heat as well. (I'd test the temps of course)

I have garters... when they breed I don't want the babies to escape b4 I can transfer them to smaller cages.

Also.. can you tell me what a good size would be for 3 garters? I am going to have a set of 3 and two sets of 2. the 24" cages might work for the 2 (about 2 sq feet) but am not sure about the three... so I was thinking of maybe getting 3 36" cages instead... though they would be a little big for the 2ers. (wonder how much the rack costs though they don't say)

- Sharon

Sharon,
One thing you can do is to simply put Flexwatt or Heat Wave heat pads under the back bottom of the cage. This way there is no drilling or wiring necessary. You can contact The Bean Farm - I believe they will wire up the Flexwatt for you to a power cord. You can get a 2ft strip of the 3" wide for each 24" cage and lay it right under the back edge of the cage. Those cages are very light in weight and will not hurt the heater or cage. You MUST use a dimmer though. The Bean Farm sells them, and so does Home Depot (look for the tabletop dimmer. No wiring necessary. Just get a 3-to-1 adapter so you can plug in three cords into one dimmer.)

Believe me- with snakes it is way easier to not have a heat pad inside the cage. So much easier to clean the cage without it.

Another method for you: Garters do not need much heat. Simply tape the Flexwatt or heat pads to the back outside wall of the cage. Put something (like fake rocks or a brick or a branch..) near the back wall so the snakes can cram themselves between the object and the warm wall. Works very well. This is how I kept my mountain kings.

The 3ft cage is way bigger than the 2ft cage. I housed two Ariz mtn kings that were nearly 4ft in one 3ft cage and had room to spare. You can easily keep 3 garters in the 36" cage. The 24" cages can house maybe 1 or 2 adult garters depending on the type.

Lastly, you can easily heat the 36" cage with a light fixture inside. The bulb will be high enough for the snakes not to climb on. But, you will have to wire it, so maybe you will want to bypass this method. I can give you detailed instructions on how to implement a ceramic socket inside a Neodesha (or Vision or Boaphile or ??) such that it will not burn, melt or harm the cage with prolonged use. A 50 watt red basking lamp is all you need to heat one of those cages for garters (and a dimmer of course!)
-----
Mark

Thanks.

I have thought about doing the light because they can do it on the outside. I finally managed to have a long talk with someone from the company... we were working on how to "stack" 3 36" cages without the very expencive steel rack.

I was thinking if I could somehow split their 36" NESTING cages in half with a divider that would work... but I have to see about heat on both sides... I need to talk to him about this.

Don't suppose you could tell me how much one of these larger cages (36" display or 36" nesting) weighs? lightweight for one person is heavy for another. [I didn't have a chance to ask in my phone conversation] I can't lift a 30 gal aquarium for example... can't even budge it. I don't know how much one of thouse weighs... but the larger in bulk something is the less it has to weigh for me to be able to carry it.

I would probally have to have a handhold of somesort for the 36" cages.

Thanks again for the info.
- Sharon