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I am going to be picking up an adult pair of boas sometime mid-october and am going to need to build a cage, or pair of cages for them. I have access to all the wood, plexi, hardware, and tools to build a knockout enclosure, so that is not of much concern. My dilemma lies in that I live on the frozen tundra of upstate New York and heating may very well be a concern. With my corn and ball it wasn't too bad, just a layer of celotex insulation around 3 sides of the aquarium and a 45 watt halogen bulb did the trick. I would prefer to skip light bulbs entirely (sans fluorescent lighting strictly for viewing), as I would prefer the top of the cage to have some function besides just a cage. Anyway, I digress. My problems are:

1) Winter heating, no lightbulbs allowed
2) If under-tank, what to make the bottom out of so as to transmit the heat best.
3) Should I build one or two? How big (I have heard anywhere from 4' to 6', so settling around 5' seems most logical). Also how tall, I have settled right on 2' wide.
4) Making it hold humidity without rotting (kinda major methinks).

Anyone with some insight, please do share. Thanks everyone in advance.

Charlie

>>I would prefer to skip light bulbs entirely (sans fluorescent lighting strictly for viewing), as I would prefer the top of the cage to have some function besides just a cage.

Just to make sure I understand this, are you saying that you don't want to deal with having heat lamps sitting on the top of the cage, therby preventing it from being useful for something else? You can still mount something on the inside ceiling the cage, correct?

>>1) Winter heating, no lightbulbs allowed

Look into Radiant Heat Panels (RHP) from Pro Products and also utlize foil-faced insulation. I use Reflectix on some of my cages and it is shocking how much heat it reflects back into the cage.

>>2) If under-tank, what to make the bottom out of so as to transmit the heat best.

Don't recommend this in a cold room, but you could try it on a supplemental basis. Just cut a hole out of the cage floor and cover the entire floor with Sintra (a PVC sign board) or Fiberglass Reinforced Panel, or FRP.

This will make the floor very durable and easy to clean as well as providing an air space for your heat tape. The heat tape would just be attached to the underside of the plastic over the cut out area.

I have also built wooden cages with no floor at all and just attached Sintra directly to the bottom of the cage with staples and silicone. This works remarkably well but some people just aren't comfortable with it.

Regardless, I think you definately need a RHP and it will be more than enough. Not belly heat needed.

>>3) Should I build one or two? How big (I have heard anywhere from 4' to 6', so settling around 5' seems most logical). Also how tall, I have settled right on 2' wide.

4'x2' floor area at a minimum. Anything more depends on the sex of the snakes and the particular form of Boa. And I like the idea of building two separate cages.

>>4) Making it hold humidity without rotting (kinda major methinks).

A plastic floor, even if you don't use belly heat, will help a lot. What you seal the walls with depends on what look you prefer. A solid color or a clear coat?

There's anything from paint, epoxy, plastic laminate, vinyl film, and the old standby of polyurethane. There are a lot of tradeoffs to consider.
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Current snakes:

1.1 Gonyosoma oxycephala - (Silver/Yellow)

2.2 Gonyosoma oxycephala - (Green)

4.3 Gonyosoma janseni - (Black)

Thanks for the reply chris, just a few additional questions for you, and responses to the questions you asked:

1) Recessed ceiling lighting is very possible, I hadn't thought about that. Just the thought of the stereotypical clamp lamp sitting on a square of mesh on the roof of the cage gives me the willies.

2) About RHP, I know this is on par with "what wattage bulb do I need?" but what wattage panel do I need? I have never dealt with them at all. The room may very well drop into the low 60s through the winter, dealing with a 4' or 5' x 2' footprint. Is a recessed red or black light a viable alternative (cost effectively)?

3) Can I get Sintra at Home Depot or the other random construction supply places around? It sounds like some choice stuff.

4) Why would someone be uncomfortable with a direct plastic floor? If the cage sits directly on a solid surface the floor is merely a baricade from the floor or top of the cage below it. Sounds silly to me.

5) What do you prefer as an interior sealer? I'd really like to strike a balance between butt-ugly functionality dead sexy garbage.

The boas are both adults, one being a male salmon, the other a female hog island. If I do two cages then recessed lighting is not an option (the fixture protruding from the top of the bottom cage prevents a cage stacked on top). Also I am looking at building it/them from quartersawn white oak, are there any toxicity issues I need to be wary of?

>>1) Recessed ceiling lighting is very possible, I hadn't thought about that. Just the thought of the stereotypical clamp lamp sitting on a square of mesh on the roof of the cage gives me the willies.

I don't like that either. I build all of my cages with solid tops. If I need a lot of ventilation I just go with a false ceiling. I won't explain that to you since it's not relevant to Boa constrictor types.

>>2) About RHP, I know this is on par with "what wattage bulb do I need?" but what wattage panel do I need? I have never dealt with them at all. The room may very well drop into the low 60s through the winter, dealing with a 4' or 5' x 2' footprint. Is a recessed red or black light a viable alternative (cost effectively)?

When you have the cage somewhat constructed, give Bob Pound at Pro Products a call. He will give you more information than you need. And skip the red/black light unless you want some night time viewing.

One thing that Bob will tell you is to insulate the floor with some sort of foil faced product. This really has a huge effect.

>>3) Can I get Sintra at Home Depot or the other random construction supply places around? It sounds like some choice stuff.

For just a piece large enough to cover a cage floor, call around to local sign shops and say you need a 4'x2' (or whatever size) piece of Sintra. Once you finalize your design let us know and we can recommend the thickness. You can probably use 3mm (about 1/8".

>>4) Why would someone be uncomfortable with a direct plastic floor? If the cage sits directly on a solid surface the floor is merely a baricade from the floor or top of the cage below it. Sounds silly to me.

Some people just like the structural integrity of a floor. When used properly a floor will help keep a cage from racking and twisting. But there are ways to deal with this otherwise.

>>5) What do you prefer as an interior sealer? I'd really like to strike a balance between butt-ugly functionality dead sexy garbage.

I like a clear coat if the wood grain is at all interesting or nice. But they either tend to 1) somewhat expensive & need to be re-done ever few years in the case of waterborne poly, 2) expensive in the case of clear epoxies, or 3) a pain to apply and take months to offgass in the case of oil-based polys.

For a solid color in a snake cage I like the use of Vinyl film or Contact Paper. Read the cage building links at FineGTPs.com and see how they use Contact Paper. But if you like that design then I highly recommend the use of Vinyl film as it is so much more durable.

>>The boas are both adults, one being a male salmon, the other a female hog island.

Okay, I would build two cages, probably 4'x2' since neither of those will be very large.

>>If I do two cages then recessed lighting is not an option (the fixture protruding from the top of the bottom cage prevents a cage stacked on top).

There are many fluorescent fixtures that can be screwed directly to the top of the cage. That will allow your cages to be stacked.

>>Also I am looking at building it/them from quartersawn white oak, are there any toxicity issues I need to be wary of?

I wish I would have read that before writing up the reply about finishes. I would definately go with a clear coat to show off the oak grain.

However, I don't like use any solid wood stock in humid cages except for the face frame. For the actual carcass of the cage I prefer plywood since it is so much more dimensionally stable in the presence of climatic changes. Your cages will be hot and humid on the inside and cold and dry on the outside which can cause warping etc. Quartersawn oak won't be as bad, however.

Still I would use the GSWO for the face frame and plywood for everything else. The oak plywood might be hard to match to the face frame but I don't think it's that big of a deal.

If you're at all concerned about this then go to a cabinet supply shop and look for oak plywood with bookmatched sawn veneer instead of the typical radial sawn veneer.

Here is a cage I built from radial sawn veneer. You can see the dramatic grain in the back that might not match with the QSWO you have.

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Current snakes:

1.1 Gonyosoma oxycephala - (Silver/Yellow)

2.2 Gonyosoma oxycephala - (Green)

4.3 Gonyosoma janseni - (Black)

That previous cage was sealed on the interior with Envirotex Lite, a solvent-free bar top epoxy. Good stuff but very expensive.

Since this is for a boa and you're leaning towards a plastic floor, I think you can get away with less protection than the Epoxy. The cage walls just don't need as much protection.

I typically don't use oil-based poly for two reasons. One is that I'm not always patient at the finishing stage and tend to slop on the coats too thick and not wait long enough for any single coat to dry. This leads to offgassing that can take up to a year.

The other reason is that I don't like the amber color it tends to give to wood. However, with oak, the amber color is actually kind of nice. Many people descibe the color as "warm" when on oak.

If I were to build an oak cage for a boa (and use a plastic floor), I'd go ahead and use oil-based poly.

But I would thin it down 50% or more with mineral spirits and I would use a cloth to wipe on very thin layers. I would not brush it on. It would take more coats but it would mean the individual coats would dry faster and it would reduce total offgass time.

Nice thing about oil-based poly is how cheap it is.

I don't own any large boas myself, but I have a friend that I gave one too, and he keeps them together with no problem. I'm not sure about feeding, though. He made something similar to a shower stall, but I would make it a little wider, and he does use overhead heat lamp for basking. It is neat. He has some large sticks and shelves in there. As far as heating goes, I have changed all of my cages to heat tape. It works great. I have heard of people using wood, but routering out a kind of trough thing for their heat tape. I just tape mine underneath with aluminum tape, and so far I have not had any problems. All of my snakes are in the basement at between 68-70 degs. The heat transfers through the melamine just fine. I have thermometers in almost every cage. For big snakes, I would make the heat tape the biggst width you can get and half of the cage in length. Hope this helps. Good Luck,
Derek

Okay, after taking Chris's advice along with that of a local breeder I have come to a somewhat "final" plan for what to build.

I am going with 4' x 3' x 2' for the pair, with a rubbermaid tub on standby for the potential emergency. Space is at quite a premium in my apartment, and this is the choice I am left with unfortunately. From discussions I have had with a local breeder and several other boa keepers around, housing a pair rarely seems to be problematic.

The local guy uses the desert ray heat panels from big apple, and he has had no problems with them whatsoever (and they're a spot cheaper), so those are what I'll go with. I am using their largest (54 watt) on the hot side ceiling, and their smallest (24 watt) on the cold side wall facing towards the hot side (to raise ambients).

The cage will be made of plywood and sealed on the inside with vinyl film. Two 2" round vents covered with 1/4" hardware cloth on each end. The boas will sit directly on 1/2" celotex insulation wrapped in vinyl film, which will sit on a plywood floor.

All heating will be rheostatically controlled, and I have an 18" full spectrum fixture that will be on a 12/12 photoperiod, also electronically controlled.

So thats it, let me know what you think Chris, and everyone else can chime in too if they so desire.

>>I am going with 4' x 3' x 2' for the pair, with a rubbermaid tub on standby for the potential emergency. Space is at quite a premium in my apartment, and this is the choice I am left with unfortunately. From discussions I have had with a local breeder and several other boa keepers around, housing a pair rarely seems to be problematic.

I'm glad to hear you can keep the boas together. I've done it but did not want to go against modern dogma that "all snakes should be kept individually".

My only comment on that cage might be the height and depth. Once you have a face frame or an upper and lower lip, the viewing area decreases. For example, if you use 3" upper and lower lips, that leaves about 18" of viewing area. This is plenty, but it does not always look great with a very deep cage, which yours will be at 32".

So maybe consider adding a bit to the height and taking a bit from the depth.

>>The local guy uses the desert ray heat panels from big apple, and he has had no problems with them whatsoever (and they're a spot cheaper), so those are what I'll go with.

If you incorporate some foil-faced insulation on the outside of the cage where these will be attached you'll get much better performance.

Personally, I'd prefer Pro Products, Helix, Enerjoy in that order, but I can understand your concerns with $$.

>>The cage will be made of plywood and sealed on the inside with vinyl film. Two 2" round vents covered with 1/4" hardware cloth on each end.

Since you're going with the vinyl film I'd construct the cage from either MDF (like on FineGTPs.com), melamine, or birch laminated plywood. Either will provide a much smoother surface for the vinyl film to attach to.

The choices really depend on what look you want on the outside of the cage.

On the same note, you'll want to prime any of the surfaced that the vinyl film will attach to. Just pick up a small can of primer or wood sealer.

>>The boas will sit directly on 1/2" celotex insulation wrapped in vinyl film, which will sit on a plywood floor.

An idea I like better is to go with the vinyl film directly on the plywood floor. Build the cage so the floor is an inch off the base and a piece of foil-faced poly-iso can be tucked into this space. I like that approach much better.

>>All heating will be rheostatically controlled, and I have an 18" full spectrum fixture that will be on a 12/12 photoperiod, also electronically controlled.

Again, if you can incorporate a reflective insulation on or inside the top somehow you can direct a lot of the heat from the 18" fixture back into the cage. That was my biggest surprise when I started using Reflectix.

The 18" fixture is a full spectrum fluorescent fixture, so heat from that is negligable at best. I had planned on putting a layer of celotex in the ceiling. I have two sheets of black-backed celotex that no one seems to know ever existed. It does an insane job at radiating and reflecting heat, doing double duty over normal foil-faced (the black-back is painted over the foil layer, giving it both radiating and reflective properties).

How long am I looking at needing the primer to gas off? Not something I have ever thought remotely about, but I'd imagine it would be kinda detrimental to the snake's health.

On viewing space, it's not a ginormous concern. It's going to be infrequently at best that I am watching them in their enclosure. It'll most likely primarily be only when I feed them that they get the majority of the watchful eye.

On materials, a few years ago my dad picked up a bash of high density, heavier than lead black plastic sheets off ebay. Ended up winning around 160 square feet for around 50 cents, plus 48 dollars in shipping (heh, gotta love UPS). Anyway, I am contemplating using this over plywood. The necessity for the cage to be portable isn't a huge concern, and this stuff would clean beautifully and not need any finishing/priming. My question is, do I need to seal the corners with caulk/silicone?

I know exactly what you are talking about with Celotex now. That stuff is pretty good and exactly what's underneath the floor of my Bearded Dragon cage.

>>The 18" fixture is a full spectrum fluorescent fixture, so heat from that is negligable at best.

You'd be surprised, although I'm not sure I've tested it with an 18 watt fixture. I did test a low watt fixture and enough heat was radiated back to be helpful.

>>How long am I looking at needing the primer to gas off? Not something I have ever thought remotely about, but I'd imagine it would be kinda detrimental to the snake's health.

Just use a waterbased primer and you'll be fine. Understand there is solvent in the vinyl film adhesive that is of bigger concern than any primer. Let it offgas until you cannot detect any odor.

>>On viewing space, it's not a ginormous concern. It's going to be infrequently at best that I am watching them in their enclosure. It'll most likely primarily be only when I feed them that they get the majority of the watchful eye.

Sounds good, but also keep ease of cleaning in mind. Do you really want to be scraping Boa urates off of the back edge 36" away when the opening is only 18"?

>>On materials, a few years ago my dad picked up a bash of high density, heavier than lead black plastic sheets off ebay. My question is, do I need to seal the corners with caulk/silicone?

What type of plastic is it? Is it possibly ABS? If so, just solvent weld it together.

I'm guessing it's ABS from your description (cheap, black and heavy).

Pretty easy stuff to work with.