Locks Needed - Quick Question on AP Enclosures

Quick question....

I have my 2nd AP Enclosure coming soon (hopefully) and I declined getting the lock installed in the glass. Partly because I never lock my current one because the glass is pretty heavy and I don't foresee my snake being able to open the doors (at this point in time due to to their size....or possibly ever).

Anyone else w/ larger snakes feel the need to have locks on these enclosures. I might just go ahead and see if they can add the locks before it's shipped...just for piece of mind.

The enclosures are for a BCI and BP....

Get the lock brother. You'll be surprised how they can wiggle and move that glass especially as they get larger. For $20 it's well worth it.

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Originally Posted by EL-Ziggy

Get the lock brother. You'll be surprised how they can wiggle and move that glass especially as they get larger. For $20 it's well worth it.

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Yea, I think you're right Ziggy. After I ordered all the extras like Shelf, LED lights, etc....., I realized the price was adding up quickly and I 'never' use my AP locks now. But as you said, better to be safe and not have to worry about it.

My BP (in another enclosure) has already escaped twice and it's a horrible feeling tearing the basement apart for hours trying to find them.

I can TOTALLY picture a snake (especially the stronger or heavy-bodied ones) pushing sideways & sliding the glass. Not intentionally to open the cage, but once
they smell fresh air coming in, it's "see ya later pal"! :snake: I liked playing "hide & seek" when I was a kid, but not so much anymore...& not with snakes!

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Originally Posted by Bogertophis

I can TOTALLY picture a snake (especially the stronger or heavy-bodied ones) pushing sideways & sliding the glass. Not intentionally to open the cage, but once
they smell fresh air coming in, it's "see ya later pal"! :snake: I liked playing "hide & seek" when I was a kid, but not so much anymore...& not with snakes!

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I agree Bogertophis. The glass is super heavy on the AP enclosures but I don't want to find out the hard way.

not to Hijack your thread, but did they tell you how long it would take to ship?

I echo what everyone else has said. An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure. If nothing else having the lock just helps ensure that the doors are indeed fully closed. In the event that some substrate gets in the tracks and prevents the lock from fitting you’ll definitely know there’s a gap in that case


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Originally Posted by sur3fir3

not to Hijack your thread, but did they tell you how long it would take to ship?

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Hmmm....I want to say 3 months but I can't be sure. I'm not in a huge hurry so haven't followed up with them since I placed the order. I think my 1st one took about 3-4 months.

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Originally Posted by ckuhn003

I agree Bogertophis. The glass is super heavy on the AP enclosures but I don't want to find out the hard way.

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And with a larger snake, they can push against the back of the enclosure with their lower half as an anchor...I could totally see it happening. My large (7') adult Florida
rat snakes are quite pushy in their cages at times...they get restless & maybe they can smell the females at the other end of the house? I don't know, but they're strong.

I'd say locks are a plus if you ever decided to sell the cage too- seems better to have the option. I can't picture a BP sliding the glass open but a BCI? Sure!

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Originally Posted by Bogertophis

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I can't picture a BP sliding the glass open but...

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It’s buried in an old thread somewhere on here, but Sauzo had his old BP, Dottie(RIP) push the doors open on an unlocked AP cage and escaped for a bit. Never underestimate the abilities of your critters



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Originally Posted by jmcrook

It’s buried in an old thread somewhere on here, but Sauzo had his old BP, Dottie(RIP) push the doors open on an unlocked AP cage and escaped for a bit. Never underestimate the abilities of your critters



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I believe you...snakes have nothing else to do besides test their cage while they wait for their next "room service meals". I didn't mean to imply that a BP couldn't do
it, just that I pictured it being more likely to happen with a BCI, mostly because they get bigger and they're more active. Also, some sliding glass doors slide much
easier than others. I used to have Neodesha (slant front) enclosures with sliding glass doors...when the tracks were clean & oiled, the glass skid easily. Except for the
fact that I always 'locked' them (with a simple peg in the hole)...'cause I'm just "no fun". ;)

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Originally Posted by Bogertophis

I believe you...snakes have nothing else to do besides test their cage while they wait for their next "room service meals". I didn't mean to imply that a BP couldn't do
it, just that I pictured it being more likely to happen with a BCI, mostly because they get bigger and they're more active. Also, some sliding glass doors slide much
easier than others. I used to have Neodesha (slant front) enclosures with sliding glass doors...when the tracks were clean & oiled, the glass skid easily. Except for the
fact that I always 'locked' them (with a simple peg in the hole)...'cause I'm just "no fun". ;)

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Agreed. A Boa is way more likely to push the door open than a ball python, but even a kingsnake can throw some curve balls haha!
I had a neodesha cage for 16yrs with an acrylic door and when opening it would often squeal and vibrate the cage regardless of the condition of the track, and was annoying as could be in that regard, though very easy to look into and clean and move/transport compared to pvc enclosures.
Back to OP’s topic. Spring for the lock. Worst scenario you spend $20. Best scenario you have well secured critters


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Originally Posted by jmcrook

Agreed. A Boa is way more likely to push the door open than a ball python, but even a kingsnake can throw some curve balls haha!
I had a neodesha cage for 16yrs with an acrylic door and when opening it would often squeal and vibrate the cage regardless of the condition of the track, and was annoying as could be in that regard, though very easy to look into and clean and move/transport compared to pvc enclosures.
Back to OP’s topic. Spring for the lock. Worst scenario you spend $20. Best scenario you have well secured critters


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Thanks everyone. I'm glad I posed this question. I still can't fathom a snake being able to slide these heavy glass doors open because it's tough enough for me to open but there are enough stories here to warrant getting a lock installed. Hopefully AP can get one installed before they ship.

If AP can't install for you, you can go for these instead:
https://www.amazon.com/TDK-TDK-7-Sti...ateway&sr=8-13

I bend the short end of the L and break it off for mine, so it won't interfere with the center brace. The stick-on track stays put very well if you have it clean and dry before install. I've been running 4 of these for almost 2 years and they're still in great shape.

Honestly, I'm not a big fan of the AP locks. My first one, the lock insert mechanism, the bit the key slides into, popped apart randomly and 2 of the pins are still AWOL in my carpet and it has been unusable ever since. They work, but for the price, I'd rather use the ones I linked above.

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Originally Posted by pretends2bnormal

If AP can't install for you, you can go for these instead:
https://www.amazon.com/TDK-TDK-7-Sti...ateway&sr=8-13

I bend the short end of the L and break it off for mine, so it won't interfere with the center brace. The stick-on track stays put very well if you have it clean and dry before install. I've been running 4 of these for almost 2 years and they're still in great shape.

Honestly, I'm not a big fan of the AP locks. My first one, the lock insert mechanism, the bit the key slides into, popped apart randomly and 2 of the pins are still AWOL in my carpet and it has been unusable ever since. They work, but for the price, I'd rather use the ones I linked above.

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Thanks. I bought something similar to this for a PVC enclosure I have which has acrylic doors. Works great but I ended up scratching the doors pretty good which was probably due to me installing them incorrectly when I 1st got them.

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Originally Posted by ckuhn003

Thanks. I bought something similar to this for a PVC enclosure I have which has acrylic doors. Works great but I ended up scratching the doors pretty good which was probably due to me installing them incorrectly when I 1st got them.

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I can't think of how these locks would scratch the doors, but mine are all glass doors which makes scratches hard to do anyway.

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Originally Posted by pretends2bnormal

I can't think of how these locks would scratch the doors, but mine are all glass doors which makes scratches hard to do anyway.

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Maybe I installed the locks wrong but I just snapped a photo of the long scratch created by the locks I used. The inside of the outside door glides against the metal lock piece which attaches to the inside acrylic door. Since it’s such a tight fit, the scratch happened almost immediately after installing. Again, it could of been my inexperience when installing the locking mechanism.

https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/201...0ea938fdb9.jpg


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Quote:

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Originally Posted by ckuhn003

Maybe I installed the locks wrong but I just snapped a photo of the long scratch created by the locks I used. The inside of the outside door glides against the metal lock piece which attaches to the inside acrylic door. Since it’s such a tight fit, the scratch happened almost immediately after installing. Again, it could of been my inexperience when installing the locking mechanism.

https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/201...0ea938fdb9.jpg


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Ohhhh. Yeah, I assume plexi sliding doors have a much narrower gap. I didn't even think of that kind of scratch, I was thinking about the corner bit maybe catching on something.

Well, I can assure you it isn't a problem with glass on AP cages. :)
https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/201...034c073788.jpg

I've got those locks on 6 PVC cages, soon to be 7, 5 AP and 1 from a local PVC cage company.

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