Juvenile JCP Enclosure

[MelissaFlipski]

As y'all know, we picked up a 6 month JCP recently. He came with his 27 Qt tub (1.5' high and about 1' deep and 1.5' wide). We want to go ahead and upgrade him to a larger enclosure soon.

Question #1: Can we upgrade him/her (not sure of gender) to the final enclosure now? Or will that be too much space and cause him/her to feel insecure?

Question #2: I have heard all kinds of suggested enclosure sizes for adult JCP's - 3' x 2' x 2' minimum, 4' x 2' x 2' is better, 5' x 2' x 2' is best. Given that we don't know exactly how large this fella will grow, would 5' wide x 2' high x 1.5' deep be OK? Or is the 4' x 2' x 2' alright? We want Zeelow to be comfortable and happy, not simply living with the minimum requirements. But we don't want to take up more space/resources than we have to.

Question #3: Out of all of our snakes, Zeelow is obviously the best display snake (the others are a BP and a KSB). We want an enclosure that would be a good display case, but not too heavy/expensive and easy to maintain. I was talking with my husband about building one. He was thinking of a design something like this: http://washingtondc.craigslist.org/n...535681589.html Should he build it? Should we get the Craig's list one (would also spend $10 on gas) - but you can't access every area, the top doesn't open.

Thanks for any and all advice!

[dalvers63]

I would build your own rather than get the one off CL. The access isn't all that good and you can never truly disinfect a wood cage.

For now, you could use something in between and work on building his permanent cage. I had my yearling in a 30g long tank that was planted with a soil substrate. This worked great for her until we took her out to put in the rack. (She's got attitude issues, too, and this makes it easier to work with her.)

Jungles like to climb so I think that taller is better than long. I'm not sure just what size would be good for an adult as it's rather variable how big they can get. I'd look around they house and figure out where you'd like to have him when he's bigger. Then build something to fill that space.

[MPenn]

Question #1: Can we upgrade him/her (not sure of gender) to the final enclosure now? Or will that be too much space and cause him/her to feel insecure?

I would wait on moving him/her to a larger enclosure. You want to make sure that the jungle is eating well and thriving before moving them around because as you stated, he/her could feel insecure and refuse to eat.

Question #2: I have heard all kinds of suggested enclosure sizes for adult JCP's - 3' x 2' x 2' minimum, 4' x 2' x 2' is better, 5' x 2' x 2' is best. Given that we don't know exactly how large this fella will grow, would 5' wide x 2' high x 1.5' deep be OK? Or is the 4' x 2' x 2' alright? We want Zeelow to be comfortable and happy, not simply living with the minimum requirements. But we don't want to take up more space/resources than we have to.

An enclosure of 4' x 2' x 2' would work great. If you are really wanting to build one, I would choose 4' x 28-30" x 1.5-2'. It never hurts to have a bit more height and you don't want to be reaching really far back in a 2' deep cage (depending on where you house it).

Question #3: Out of all of our snakes, Zeelow is obviously the best display snake (the others are a BP and a KSB). We want an enclosure that would be a good display case, but not too heavy/expensive and easy to maintain. I was talking with my husband about building one. He was thinking of a design something like this: http://washingtondc.craigslist.org/n...535681589.html Should he build it? Should we get the Craig's list one (would also spend $10 on gas) - but you can't access every area, the top doesn't open.

I wouldn't buy one off of CL either. If you want to build one, use melamine or you can build one from MDF and use lots of wood sealer. I prefer to use AP cages as I like their design alot.

[MelissaFlipski]

Thanks, y'all. I appreciate the input. We decided not to get the CL enclosure.

Good news. Zeelow ate a F/T small rat tonight w/out a problem or much hesitation.

Do you think it's OK to move him to a larger tub for now and worry about the bigger move later? He has calmed down a lot; and I've taken him out with my bare hand and handled him w/out any strikes a few times. Or do you think any move would be too soon?

Thanks again!