Caesar progression thread.

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Originally Posted by Sauzo

Nice. Was hoping you were getting the Monster Cage as I wanted to here a review from someone who has one. I already know what Ed's cages are like lol. Honestly the HDPE just didn't do it for me. Nothing I wanted to stick to it ever did and the stuff I didn't want to stick to it did like Rosey's urate. The bottom of the cage has stains I couldn't remove unless I sanded them. And foil tape wouldn't stick to the stuff so you couldn't use heat tape. And for me the breaking point was how much the cages shift and move even when assembled. He labeled it 'living plastic' but I label it thinner material and not as rigid of construction as AP. That's why I like the AP cages, they are sturdy. You pick one up and there is no flex or shift. I mean to get my 4x2 Pro-Line's door to line up, I had to shim 3 pieces of cardboard under the rear right corner of the cage. And that was when it was new. But anyways, if they work for you, then awesome. I'm sure Wallace will love the 6' and you do set up nice natural set ups.

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Monster cages are HDPE plastic. Much better than PVC for certain reasons IMO, but if you don't like HDPE, you won't like Monster. The new plastic Matt uses is the same that Ed uses.

I've never had the issues you speak of so I don't know what to tell you there. Maybe my perches stabilize the units, but I also have them on 3/4" plywood that is larger than the base of the cages with hard insulation under that and a solid table under that. Who knows why, but they work great for me, and dudes like Nick Mutton.

I'd put what I have up against anybody's caging and probably pick mine. In the end it's a big plastic box so I don't care too much, use what makes you happy. I could care less what anybody does, its not my business. My collection has been doing excellent so no need to change a thing now. Same with Boaphile caging, some love them others don't. I think they look great, just too small for me. Like I said, I enjoy seeing what others do and won't knock or criticize other units. It's a hobby not a contest.

AP and their prices were simply unreasonable for me. Size combined with value and I'd have to be stupid not to get what I have coming. But then again, I like to watch my snakes climb. Semi arboreal maneuvers at night are extremely fun to watch so I want a minimum of 24" tall. I'll never buy another cage that isn't at least that tall. I'm paying a bit over half the price of the AP unit I wanted including delivery, without going into specifics. Obviously Ed is treating me well, very well.

Matt at Monster seems to have too much going on, he's a very nice guy and I think the cages look nice. I DON'T think you personally would be happier though. He ships completely assembled and I'll bet you would be better off with your AP deal once delivery is added.

I texted him and got a response a day later, then arranged a visit and never heard back. That was a week ago. I didn't have time to wait with lead times so I went with the tried and true.

The boy went blue last night so he's growing a bit.

It should warm up and time out well to get fresh shed outdoor pictures. Stay tuned.

I also want to see Caesar outside. I'll bet he glows like a neon light.

I hear ya. I mean if I liked Pro-Line cages, I would just drive down and pick them up from Ed as I live probably 2 hours from him. Just the design of the cage isn't for me. I'm not a fan of the dovetail joint for a cage. I prefer a flush/flat fit but like you said, each to their own.

I did have my Pro-Line on a 1/2" sheet of sanded plywood and it still was warped. The roof sagged after 3 years too and you couldn't miss that as you had about 1/2" gap between the door and top header on the corners and in the center, it was header to door, lucky if you could fit a sheet of paper between it. Figment's Pro-Line was worse. His, he actually had to lift the center to close the door and neither of us put anything on top of them.

I bet the perches mounted in probably did stabilize it. Acting as kind of a center brace I guess.

But anyways, if it works for you, you got a good deal and are happy with it, grats man :D I want to see it all decked out.

And yeah, I'll for sure get pics of everyone outside in the summer. Going to build a 4-5' jungle gym out of 1" pvc so I can drag it outside on the deck for the snakes to play on lol.

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Originally Posted by Sauzo

I hear ya. I mean if I liked Pro-Line cages, I would just drive down and pick them up from Ed as I live probably 2 hours from him. Just the design of the cage isn't for me. I'm not a fan of the dovetail joint for a cage. I prefer a flush/flat fit but like you said, each to their own.

I did have my Pro-Line on a 1/2" sheet of sanded plywood and it still was warped. The roof sagged after 3 years too and you couldn't miss that as you had about 1/2" gap between the door and top header on the corners and in the center, it was header to door, lucky if you could fit a sheet of paper between it. Figment's Pro-Line was worse. His, he actually had to lift the center to close the door and neither of us put anything on top of them.

I bet the perches mounted in probably did stabilize it. Acting as kind of a center brace I guess.

But anyways, if it works for you, you got a good deal and are happy with it, grats man :D I want to see it all decked out.

And yeah, I'll for sure get pics of everyone outside in the summer. Going to build a 4-5' jungle gym out of 1" pvc so I can drag it outside on the deck for the snakes to play on lol.

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Should be cool when the outdoor shots get going.

You live about as far from Ed as I do from Matt.

It will be a bit before I get it all set up. I'm getting a huge rolling stand built for my 3 current cages, then I can easily roll them in and out for various cleaning procedures, The big cage will stand on a 6 foot table for now. Then I'll get casters so I can roll it.

You should grab some rollers from AP. Might be worth it.

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Originally Posted by Gio

Should be cool when the outdoor shots get going.

You live about as far from Ed as I do from Matt.

It will be a bit before I get it all set up. I'm getting a huge rolling stand built for my 3 current cages, then I can easily roll them in and out for various cleaning procedures, The big cage will stand on a 6 foot table for now. Then I'll get casters so I can roll it.

You should grab some rollers from AP. Might be worth it.

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Thought about it but I have all my cages on carpet so probably wouldn't roll that great. Also I use flexwatt so unless I had them make a version of their stand but solid, it wouldn't work. I actually use a sheet of 1/2" sanded plywood between their stand and the bottom cage so it creates a sandwich for the flexwatt so it is evenly pressed to the floor of the bottom cage. But I have thought about just buying 4 casters and then just cutting up 4 4x4 for legs, 2x4 for braces and then putting down a 1/2 sheet of plywood for the table top and then just spray paint it all flat black. But again, I don't really move my cages. When it comes to cleaning time, I throw everyone in their tubs, take the doors off, take out all the hides and water bowls, and then just dust pan out as much substrate out of all the cages. Then I just vacuum out the rest, pull all the shelves out and spray all the cages down with F10SC from top to bottom. Wipe them out, wipe the shelf down, put it back in and put substrate back in. Like I said, I keep my cages pretty simple so I can clean all 6 cages in about 1.5-2 hours including hides and water bowls. Got it down pretty good as I have to do it every month to 1.5 months lol.

And also remember, all my cages are the same so I just stack them. I mean I could stack the T8s on top of the T10s but then the stack would be as high as my ceiling. I'd need a ladder to reach them lol. I'm just going to stack the 4 T25s next to the T10s and then that next to the T8s since I'll have like 3 of the T8s vacant once I get the T25s.

Lol and on a side note, the acurite temp/humidity gauge that Caesar pushed across his shelf and into his water bowl is working again now that it dried out haha. I put it on the floor of his cage since Caesar is too destructive to have nice stuff haha.

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Originally Posted by Gio

Then I'll get casters so I can roll it.

You should grab some rollers from AP. Might be worth it.

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I'm in the process of building a stand for my T10's and got my casters through Caster Connection (https://casterconnection.com/) - they've been great to deal with.

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Originally Posted by Sauzo

I used plastic zip ties to secure them to the side and middle vents on the AP cages. just buy some green ones and they will blend in. Just put the locking part of the zip tie on the outside of the cage so you can loosen and remove it when you need to clean the cage. and be sure to buy the non chain style silk vines lol.

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Thanks, I remember the non-chair style from an earlier post. LOL

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Originally Posted by BR8080

I'm in the process of building a stand for my T10's and got my casters through Caster Connection (https://casterconnection.com/) - they've been great to deal with.

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Thanks. Very helpful. I'm going to look into those.

Ok, question for you guys. I know a few of you guys had AP route the channels for your lighting and you put in your own. What lights did you use? Waterproof? The lights in my T10s have a couple spots that are out but come back on if I push on them. Not sure whats up, if its maybe the humidity but I'll be grilling Ali in the morning as I need to order a T25 from her anyways so it will be the perfect time to give her grief about subpar lighting that spots go wonky after only about 6 months lol.

http://m.ebay.com/itm/Waterproof-5M-...%257Ciid%253A1

The sets I have are something like this. Every color you could need, dirt cheap, work fine. Have only had one issue in the last year of using them and that was when one of the power adapters kicked the bucket but I had a spare power adapter from an air mattress pump that I use now. Aside from that, I like them. Not as crisp of a white light option as yours but I'd prefer to have the color changing option so I can look in the cages at night without bugging the critters too much over just a good daytime light


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Originally Posted by Sauzo

Ok, question for you guys. I know a few of you guys had AP route the channels for your lighting and you put in your own. What lights did you use? Waterproof? The lights in my T10s have a couple spots that are out but come back on if I push on them. Not sure whats up, if its maybe the humidity but I'll be grilling Ali in the morning as I need to order a T25 from her anyways so it will be the perfect time to give her grief about subpar lighting that spots go wonky after only about 6 months lol.

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They can also route a 10mm channel now as well. I bought lights on amazon and they fit right in the channel nicely. I cannot speak to their effectiveness as they were just installed this week, sorry.