Enclosure size

So, I'm getting a 5-6ft female BCI tomorrow, and I'm planning on building a custom enclosure for her later. Is (8'L x 2'W x 2'H) a good size for an adult boa? Is 2' wide going to be wide enough? Also, do you think boas appreciate a little more height? I'm debating making it 4'H.

I would build mine 8'X3'X3'. That size will make it much easier to take care of. Also consider how you are going to heat and provide good ventilation for a habitat that size. 72 cubic feet of space to heat is a lot.

Yeah, I've definitely got a lot to work out with it but I'm just playing up the idea of building my own enclosure since it will be large and hard to ship if I bought one, and probably a lot more expensive.

Boas will use whatever space you give them. Adults are generally not shy and are eating machines, so they adapt very well to larger spaces. I would build the largest enclosure you have the room for. Lucky boa!! :gj:

We have a breeding pair of red-tails that live together. While both are under 5' now they are obviously going to grow up! We're building a custom enclosure 8'x3'x3'. The female's momma is just over 10' and still growing, so we figure that the enclosure should be at least 8' long when she's an adult.

Also, at 3' high it's a good height to put some smaller enclosures for things like ball pythons on top, if you build the boa enclosure sturdy enough to handle the extra weight.

Our girl is close to 6ft, and she's in a custom enclosure: 6ft long, 2ft wide and 3ft tall. We added the height to put in a climbing "tree" with a hot spot.
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We used pre-coated melamine wood and disassembled an aquarium to make the glass panel for the UTH. I strongly recommend just getting a thick enough glass piece cut for you unless you know what you're doing; it took us close to 3 days and a lot of effort to dissolve the clauking on the aquarium, but the first piece of glass we bought actually shattered when tested with heat. Since we've used UTH's on aquariums before, we knew it would work. It's actually two aquarium pieces together and it's held for over a year, no issues. The doors are actually vertically-opening windows that we stood on their sides. They swing out like doors and have the bonus of having a locking mechanism. :) The side panels are plexiglass. The light has a metal screen over the opening so she cannot touch the light/bulb. We drilled ~5 ventilation holes on each end of the enclosure. (Ignore the analog dials, we got a infared temp gun and a digital humidity reader, but never took the dials out. I have no idea why they were even put in there in the first place.)

She doesn't seem to climb much, we'll see her up there occasionally, but usually she goes up, looks around, and comes back down. But it's a handy way to get her back into her enclosure, since it's a lot easier to just direct her onto the "tree" than try and pry her off your arms, lol. The taller you make it, the harder it will be to heat, trust me. The UTH at the empty side makes a nice hot spot and keeps that side warm, but we have to have the light over the "tree" on a timer to keep the other side warm enough overall. It keeps humidity wonderfully, though!

Hope this gives you ideas! :)

I would probably start out with a smaller enclosure. Easier to regulate temps and humidity.

I'm planning on building or buying some larger cages for my boas also. I never really thought about going over 6 feet long and about 30 inches high.

I really want to have some "show" enclosures. Really like the more natural looking set ups with climbing branches and maybe a few fake plants, etc...

Addition: My biggest female is about 7 foot and is an '07. She'll grow some, but I'd be surprized if she ever got over 8 foot. She's a BCI/Columbian.

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Originally Posted by NormanSnake

So, I'm getting a 5-6ft female BCI tomorrow, and I'm planning on building a custom enclosure for her later. Is (8'L x 2'W x 2'H) a good size for an adult boa? Is 2' wide going to be wide enough? Also, do you think boas appreciate a little more height? I'm debating making it 4'H.

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How long are your arms? LOL Silly question.

At 2' from front to back, you could easily reach in and clean poop in a back corner. I wouldn't make it any more than about 30" from front to back.

Hope others chime in. Cage size is good topic for discussion.

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Originally Posted by Jason Bowden

I would probably start out with a smaller enclosure. Easier to regulate temps and humidity..

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That's why I said I was planning to do it. She is in a T8 for now but she'll soon outgrow it. I like to give my snakes at least 3/4 the length of their body to turn around comfortably. If you think about it, I doubt snakes do much turning around in the wild, because there's never the side of a cage to block them. So, with that said, I don't like my snakes to be cramped in so tight they have to contort their bodies just to turn around.

I totally agree with the depth statement above. Unless you want to climb in I'd stick with two feet. And honestly... You don't realize how big these sizes are until you see them in person. If you want larger go with 6x2x2, it should be plenty. My 4' guy looks like a squirt in his 4x2x2.