Climbing Apparatus?

[dakski]

Behira (now 2 year old and 1,050 gram female ghost BCI) loves climbing. She always goes right for the bookshelf next to my big chair in the reptile area. Every once in a while, like tonight, I give her the opportunity to climb on it. She loves it.

However, as she gets bigger, that bookshelf is not going to support her. I wanted to build a PVC square with multiple levels for her to climb and that would support her at 20 pounds. However, I have nowhere to store something that big.

Anyone know what I could use that's either smaller/narrower and I could lean or attach to a wall, etc. or that's collapsable. I guess I could just build a jungle gym of sorts into the wall with branches, etc, but I am not sure how easy or doable that is.

Any idea of what I could use as a climbing apparatus for a female BCI? I thought this might be relevant for other keepers who keep larger snakes and/or arboreal and semi-arboreal snakes.

Any ideas are welcome!

Thank you in advance and below is a picture of Behira on the bookshelf that won't hold her much longer!

[IMG][/IMG]

[Bogertophis]

How about a nice 6' wooden step-ladder? Sturdy, collapsible...

[Bogertophis]

Well I've been wanting to move into our local library with my snakes for some time: it's a fairly new & modern building, but when I saw the enormous
artificial tree (huge trunk, life size!) that's what sold me. No room for it in my house though, I wonder if they'd mind us being there?

If you make something out of PVC, remember to texture the surface, otherwise it's slippery. I've seen some cool set-ups some have made, but I
don't know about collapsible? I wonder if those "elbows" would stay stuck together (with your snake climbing on) if they aren't glued? You might
be able to glue just the main sections....?

[BR8080]

I made one 6' tall x 24" x 24" out of 3/4" PVC and have not glued the corners. If it's not strong enough for that 20lb limit you're looking for - maybe make it out of 1" pipe instead?

[dboeren]

Don't know if it's tall enough for you, but they make these tree-like things for parrots to perch on. We have one that's got a wheeled platform base and I think it's about 3 feet tall with some branches on it.

[Bogertophis]

Some have used "cat trees" for their boas too, but I don't know how much they can be minimized easily for storage? they're sturdy, though...

[dboeren]

Maybe take the wooden step-ladder idea and then add some "branches" to the top by nailing a 2x4 across it?

[bcr229]

If you have wall space available you could make 3-4 saddle racks that your snake can climb up. Just make sure the mounting hardware is screwed into a stud and not just the drywall/plaster. The nice thing is that when not in use, you can flip them over to keep them out of the way. They'd also only need to be about a foot long.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qyaU05ct448

[67temp]

Similar idea to what bcr229 posted. My retic loves to climb and knocks stuff off shelves like it's his job. In the near future I plan to dedicate a whole wall to build some snake shelves. Similar to these cat shelves but home made.

https://www.catsplay.com/climb-track...unted-for-cats

[EL-Ziggy]

I've been thinking about this for my pythons and boas. I think I'll try the cat tree since I can't build the pvc gym.