New to reptiles. Need advice on DIY cage.

Hey, my name is Charel and I'm from Luxembourg (next to Germany, Belgium and France).

I've always wanted a corn snake and finally got permission of my parents :banana: to get a snake and decided to get a ball python. Running a bit short on money (other projects), I want to build my own cage.

I thought of the following:
The cage should be at least 1m / 3.2' wide, 50cm+ / 1.7' long and 50-75cm / 1.7'-2.5' high.
The cage is made out of wood with maybe one side plexiglass and the front is a door similar to this one:
http://www.arbreptiles.com/cages/plex_noframe2.jpg (ARBReptiles)

To use a heating pad from below I thought about cutting out a square or similar on one side of the bottom and cover it with plexiglass so that I can attach a heating pad (would this one work?) as close to the substrate as possible, also avoiding to place the cage on 4 support cones or similar.
For the light I thought about 2 colored LED lights either inside the cage (protected) or partially outside, depending on the height.

I'm not so sure which wood to use. Here in Luxembourg it's pretty difficult to find good wood at a reasonable price so I thought about using planks from Ikea, like Ekby (pine), or Antonius.


Please tell me what you think. I'm open for any critics and suggestions! :)

Thanks in advance,
Charel

Hi and welcome to BP.net. :welcome: The heat mat looks good but make sure you regulate it with a thermostat. That would work for the warm side now what do you plan to use o heat the rest of the tank or what would ambient temperatures be in the area outside of the tank? As for the wood stay away from Ekby. Pine and ball pythons don't mix. You can read here where someone asks about using pine substrate.

Some threads to check:
Caresheet

Introduce yourself!

My room temperature is about 18°C / 65F. After more research I planned on using a heat cable on both sides, more concentrated on the warm side, or add another heating pad. If necessary I'll add a heat lamp, but I fear getting problems with the humidity then.
If I use this substrate, will this keep the humidity levels up?

I checked for the Antonius planks and they should be ordinary Melamine planks, with which I saw lots of cages being build so far, so they should be alright.

Thanks,
Charel

It looks like it will be totally enclosed. Many people that use this type of system use radiant heat panels. I am not sure where you can find them overseas. As for the substrate I am not sure on the one you listed but I have had experience with cypress mulch. Again I am not sure what kind of stores you have locally but it can be found in a gardening type store. Just make sure there is no additives. The cypress mulch can be misted with water and will hold moisture for long periods of time.

Thanks for your help.
I'm going to build the cage soon and then test it for a few days and maybe "finetune" it before I'm buying the snake.

Charel

I've looked through the forum and drew this sketch inspired by some ideas I've seen:
http://s7.postimage.org/uvinupfrv/Cage_Sketch.jpg

Since I'm def going to build it with the Antonius planks, of which I still have some lying around, the measurements will be ± 75x55x55cm.
I'll use a timer and ultrasonic moistener in a small pot on the shelf I drew.

Any thoughts on the general design?

Charel

I can't provide input on heat cable as I haven't used it before. What is the ultrasonic mister?

Checkout this thread on cage heating:

http://ball-pythons.net/forums/showt...04#post1845904

I buy professionally made cages but their design may help you. Here is a thread that goes over my cages in detail:

http://ball-pythons.net/forums/showt...With-Pictures!

I have used ultrasonic misters in the past and would advise you to stay away. They require weekly maintenance and can really be a hassle. You are much better off getting a warm mist system. I also wouldn't put it inside the cage. You can pipe the mist into the cage or humidify the entire room. Honestly a humidifier is overkill for most ball python setups anyway. There are better methods of regulating humidity.

Thanks Aaron for your help!

I've build the cage using a radiant heat panel underneath the substrate and a CHE. The hot side is regulated by a thermostat set to 35°C which turns out to be 30° irl and the colder side changes from 26-28°C. The humidity varies about 58-65%.
As substrate I use reptibark but I'm going to put in aspen tomorrow as the 4L repitbark barely cover the cage.

I have two different sized coconut hides and a big, flat water pot. The cage measures 68x55cm and is about 58cm high.

Here are two (awful) pictures from my phone.
http://s7.postimage.org/70c3mqcwb/12070006.jpg
http://s12.postimage.org/6dyghdifx/12070044.jpg

For more info on my BP click here.

Charel