A beat to death question but She might be sayin there's a chance!!!!!!!

I have been doing research and reading about cages for about 4 months now. I'm always drawn back to AP.

I was a Boaphile fan until my 2nd order came in. Plus the lack of answering any email.

It's hard to spend that kind of cash without seeing the product in person.
I have seen other PVC cages that were 12" tall in person. Even for a snake that doesn't climb, it looks short and a pain to clean.
Start getting above 15"-18" tall and its harder to heat.

To give you an idea. There are 2 5-6' BCIs in this cage. The cage is 36"x18"x18"
http://img.tapatalk.com/d/13/03/07/ynadygat.jpg

If you're going to keep it in the basement, start with the flexwatt and see what the temps do. You might be alright. PVC cages are usually pretty good for holding heat so if the basement doesn't fall below 70, the flexwatt alone may be enough. If you need to up the temps, I highly recommend an RHP. That coupled with the flexwatt will do just fine! I keep a green tree python in our basement - the room temps are usually at about 72, his pvc cage is heated with an RHP alone and his ambient temp is at 75 with a hotperch at 87 (gtps like slightly cooler temps). But the basement setting is fine. :gj:

Try to have the cage set up and the temps figured out before you bring a boa home. That way, you'll know what you need to do for a heat source. I think the flexwatt is going to be the better way to go over a UTH - UTHs might not work so well on this style of cage. If you DO go with an UTH instead of flexwatt though, use an Ultratherm from Reptile Basics - they are the best of the best. http://www.reptilebasics.com/ultratherm-heat-pads You can get an RHP from them too if you need one.....

Note: If you buy an AP cage and order the flexwatt with it, they will wire it and make sure it's all set to just stick on the bottom and plug in. Since its professionally wired, its very safe.

The cage sizes you mentioned should be just fine. Especially if this is your only boa, you'll be able to get him out for exercise frequently too so that'll help. However, remember that he'll need something smaller if you start with a baby. ;)


Oh! I would recommend you go at least 15" high - like others have said, it really does make a difference with getting the snake in and out and with cleaning.... :gj:

3skulls, I think it's between Proline and AP. I really wish I could see, touch and mess around with either of them. I think you are right, at least for my situation 18" or above would become a heating task that I don't want to battle. I could do it with heat lamps but I'm trying to get away from that.

Evanstar, I agree with everything you said. I like the Ultratherms as well, but I would have AP wire the Flexwatt if I use that. The RHP is also what I was thinking but I know Kitedemon has posted extensively that they do not help ambient temps much.

I'll have everything figured out long before any boa gets here.

Btw, any cage with the sliding glass doors will allow you to "pop them out". the glass sits in tracks and you just lift one pane at a time and lift them out. You'll see what I mean when you put the doors in. ;)

And, yea, in a basement, too tall a cage is more difficult to heat. I would stick with 15-18" high. :D

And the RHPs really do help with ambient temps - otherwise, my gtp's cage would not be warm enough! :gj:

Could any of you post pics of your boa cages? I just saw a nice You Tube video where the Proline 48x23x14 was reviewed. It looked very nice. I think no matter what I'll get a shelf with whatever brand I go with.

I don't want to get overly excited, but this could be super cool!! I told my wife just getting the cage will probably make me smile for 5 months LOL! She want's no part of it though.

You guys are great! Thanks for posting up on this for me.

Not sure if I'll get the snake at my local reptile place (Twin Cities Reptiles) or look at an online spot. I like Gus at Rio Bravo, but my shop has treated me well and I can actually see and hold the snakes.

I'll deal with that later I guess.

I don't have pics of my boas' caging, but here's a pic of my gtp's enclosure. This came from www.pvccages.com and it is a 3 x 2 x 2 (the glass doors were removed to prevent reflection from the flash). Hunter is a large male at about 5 1/2ft so I went with the 3' wide enclosure. So the AP T10 would be a foot longer and 9" shorter.

http://i1202.photobucket.com/albums/.../Hunter004.jpg

http://i1202.photobucket.com/albums/.../Hunter006.jpg

Adding the shelf will be a great idea and your boa will appreciate it. :gj:

Gus at Rio Bravo is great. I understand that it's nice to be able to see and handle the snake before you buy, but buying from a petstore, no matter how nice the store seems, can have its risks. Gus will not stear you wrong - you will get exactly what he says you'll get. Here are a few other reputable breeders/sellers who will treat you right and who you can trust to sell you a top quality animal, whether it's a fancy morph or just a normal....

http://www.cuttingedgeherp.com/ Vin Russo
http://www.jimisnakes.com/ JimiSnakes
http://cdreptiles.com/ Chad Duggin
http://www.specialkreptiles.com/Home_Page.php Tim Koppenhoffer
http://www.reptilesbymack.com/ Mack 'Smith' (??)

I decided to go with RHPs from Proheat, they are the only ones UL listed as a complete product. I also liked talking to Bob from Proheat because he was very knowledgeable and answered all of my questions. He even brought up things that I had not thought about and helped me make my decision on thermostats as well. I was going to go with herpstat 2s and ended up saving over $100 following his recommendations. I will be posting how well it all works when I have it set up and running but that is the decision I made.

ill help you out. i have both the t10 and the t8. i personally like the t10 better than the t8 but i got the t8 in less than 5 days shipped to my door so i cant complain. both are great tanks. my apt is set to 70 and im maintaining 82* ambient temps with just a rhp.

here are pictures. go with the t10 you wont regret it!

http://i158.photobucket.com/albums/t...ps16328cee.jpg

OK, I'm new to all of this, but I'll share. I just got my AP T8 and it rocks. I had AP install two Pro Heat RHPs, as I will divide it for awhile. Right now I'm running it undivided in my cool house with just one RHP and just the one RHP keeps temps perfect. When I put the divider in, I may lose a litttle bit of the perfect gradient I have now due to the physical size of the RHPs I chose, but that is speculation and doesnt matter because it will ultimately be undivided. I love this cage so much, I just ordered a T10 for my new Boa, also with just a RHP. In my limited experience, the Pro Heat RHPs are MUCH more than upside down UTHs and under the conditions I have, do significantly impact ambient temps. The cages are very easy to put together and took about 10 minutes with good directions.

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Thanks to al who have posted the pictures. I'm having a tough time with the decision. I'm really starting to favor the AP T-10 but I do like the Proline as well. I may have struck gold on Craig's list here. I think there is an AP 6x3x2 being sold. If I can get it in the $280 range and it's in good condition I may jump on it.