Upgrading my boa cage, help me choose!

So I’m still working, I’m “essential” and also still getting one of them stimulus checks, I know it’s a pandemic, but I need to provide my larger ball python a larger enclosure then the 20l she’s in. https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/202...56d6d215a5.jpg

So here’s where I’m at. I have one ball (low grade pastel I believe) in a 20L from a rub, so he’s set. My biggest ball python (female coral glow blast, 1245g or so) has in my opinion outgrown her 20l, and I’m a fan of “display cages” so for me it’s too cramped. My BCI is happily living life in an exoterra 40b front opening cage, and I love it, no complaints. I can either get another of those, and build a stand to have the two stacked (snakes were quarantined when new and now housed in same room). I like the exoterra, except for the doors, they seem fragile but it’s not bad imo.
The other cage I’m looking at is getting an animal plastics t8, with basking shelf, glass doors
And the lock. That would be sufficient for the bci for Likely the rest of his life, correct? I will be flexwat tape for heat, and want the basking shelf simply
So can climb if he feels like it. Will also get the led lights, although with fluorescent I could go UVB, not needed but wouldn’t hurt and possibly have some benefits, my balls have them and I catch them basking in the no heat uvb day after a meal some times.
My questions, with the ap cage, is the fluorescent in a cage, is it ok not in a cage if not? Is the cage thin enough that heat tape just underneath is fine? Should I get the next size up that’s 15”tall?
Can you recommend a better cage for the price range, as a final setup for my bci? I will move the ball into the 40b for now, and if I really love the ap I will get 5 and stack all my reptiles up over time.
Thanks for reading this! https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/202...ca6796b080.png


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Edit* idk why the pictures loaded in the text so my bad. Those are the 2 noodles I’m trying to cage up.

So I’m seeing a post here saying that animal plastic cages have a huge freaking wait time, and I’d ideally like to get something in the next few months. For pvc caging, what’s the next option? I guess boaphile seems pretty nice, any other leads?

I'm not up on these type cages to best advise, but in your position, I'd go for a lifetime-size cage for the BCI at this point, & move your BP up to the BCI's former home (40b).

Boa is still pretty small, and I’d like the t8 for ball pythons and idk what yet for the boa as a final t12 I guess. But I also don’t like the super long waiting period


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Solidsnek

Boa is still pretty small, and I’d like the t8 for ball pythons and idk what yet for the boa as a final t12 I guess. But I also don’t like the super long waiting period


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

---

To expand, the boa is just barely longer than the t8 is, my smaller bp is still in a 20l size for now (under 800g) and the larger ball (1200 or so) could take the old 40b for now. Financially I can’t get 2 t8 and a t12 or larger at once, so getting the t8 night
Be the best for my snakes as far as short term goals . It’s on the quicker ship, I might kick it up this week tbh. Get the added shelf, glass sliders and run my flexiwatt under it.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Boas tend to do fine in bigger tanks even if they are smaller, provided they have enough hides, etc. I moved my 1 year and 3 month old male BI into a 6X2' and he's doing great and growing and gobbling down food, and is still a totally chill animal.

I have all Boaphile tanks and love them. I cannot comment on current lead times, but if you call Jeff Ronne, I am sure he can give you an accurate window.

https://ball-pythons.net/forums/show...t=reptile+area

I have nothing negative to say about AP's, but the lead time turned me off. I also liked how Jeff uses the tanks himself and was able to configure each tank to each individual reptiles needs.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by dakski

Boas tend to do fine in bigger tanks even if they are smaller, provided they have enough hides, etc. I moved my 1 year and 3 month old male BI into a 6X2' and he's doing great and growing and gobbling down food, and is still a totally chill animal.

I have all Boaphile tanks and love them. I cannot comment on current lead times, but if you call Jeff Ronne, I am sure he can give you an accurate window.

https://ball-pythons.net/forums/show...t=reptile+area

I have nothing negative to say about AP's, but the lead time turned me off. I also liked how Jeff uses the tanks himself and was able to configure each tank to each individual reptiles needs.

---

I’ll take a closer look at their website thanks! I guess I’ll just scrap the t8 for now and get something 6ft. Space not really an issue, but preferably I’ll be sticking to setups shipped flat, as the room is hard to get into. Would you see a point in the basking shelf if I use uth only? I figure they adds something to climb on but idk how much he would use it. My first boa and he’s a goofball but not as active as I imagined
Thanks for the response! Also nice setup! Super jealous lol


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatal

So the boaphiles are nice,
And I also found boamaster.com which is actually fairly close to me, similar pricing. Going to have to watch some YouTube videos but seems a 6ft cage is what I want

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Solidsnek

So the boaphiles are nice,
And I also found boamaster.com which is actually fairly close to me, similar pricing. Going to have to watch some YouTube videos but seems a 6ft cage is what I want

---

I don't recommend boamaster. https://ball-pythons.net/forums/show...Before-I-Order

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by wnateg

I don't recommend boamaster. https://ball-pythons.net/forums/show...Before-I-Order

---

Dang, can’t catch a break lol.
So realistically I don’t have the tools or skills to diy a pvc. The t8 ap are quick ship they said about 30 days to ship, but it would only house the boa for about 8mo to a year or so, but the t8 would free the 40b for my larger bp.
The other options seems to be boaphile cages, which seem similarly expensive, or building a wooden one, which I’m not super jazzed about. Looks like I might get the t8 now because the 40b is
An exoterrra front opening, so the t8 would still be a nice size up for him footprint wise.

I didn’t realize getting into the boa that these cages had such backlog on ordering lol. Might need to look at wood diy regardless

I would recommend contacting Animal Plastics and asking what their current order backlog time is - they'll be straightforward with you. They recently put the following announcement on their website, so lead times may have improved. It's worth checking:

"As many of you know the demand for our product has outnumbered resources to provide products in a reasonable time. Animal Plastics has purchased another building and added another robotic CNC machine and more staff. We are running at full capacity (2 shifts) out of 2 locations with over 8,000 square feet of shop space to finally start to bring our lead times down to a reasonable time. Please contact us if you have any questions."

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Caitlin

I would recommend contacting Animal Plastics and asking what their current order backlog time is - they'll be straightforward with you. They recently put the following announcement on their website, so lead times may have improved. It's worth checking:

"As many of you know the demand for our product has outnumbered resources to provide products in a reasonable time. Animal Plastics has purchased another building and added another robotic CNC machine and more staff. We are running at full capacity (2 shifts) out of 2 locations with over 8,000 square feet of shop space to finally start to bring our lead times down to a reasonable time. Please contact us if you have any questions."

---

Waiting on a response currently lol I really like their cages so if it’s a quick ship I’d be a happy dude


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Cool so I got a t12 and a t8.
I’ll set the t8 up as it will ship first (separate orders because I wanted the fast ship)
T8 will get the 6.5 ft boa until the t12 arrives,
The ball python gets the 40b upgrade cause she’s too big for a 20 imo, 1225 or so g and 3.5 or so feet long. She big.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Solidsnek

Cool so I got a t12 and a t8.
I’ll set the t8 up as it will ship first (separate orders because I wanted the fast ship)
T8 will get the 6.5 ft boa until the t12 arrives,
The ball python gets the 40b upgrade cause she’s too big for a 20 imo, 1225 or so g and 3.5 or so feet long. She big.

---

I didn’t catch it quick enough but got a t18 not a t12

Great choices! Be sure to show us when you get them set up. Can I ask what AP told you about shipping times? I'm mainly just curious - am getting ready to order an enclosure for my Carpet Python but am not in a rush for it, so even if their lead time is still a few months it's a non-issue for me.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Caitlin

Great choices! Be sure to show us when you get them set up. Can I ask what AP told you about shipping times? I'm mainly just curious - am getting ready to order an enclosure for my Carpet Python but am not in a rush for it, so even if their lead time is still a few months it's a non-issue for me.

---

Waiting on email back, just got the invoice today. I’m not super worried about time, it’s a quicker ship item, mostly I’m eager to get the larger ball python out of the 20L and into a slightly better setup. That said, I’m getting t8’s for all my ballpythons, and will get a split t8 for my leopard geckos. As long as it comes in the quality of what I’m seeing online I can’t imagine being unhappy with these cages, and stacking them would really free I’m some space in my reptile room for totally not more reptiles lol.
Quick question. Can I use just a screwdriver or is a drill the only way to get it into the pvc?

I didnt call today too much going on. Will post tomorrow if I can’t get a call and ask lead times

The T8s are nice because they're a quick ship item. I have a few of them. The boa would be fine in one of those but as he grows you'll want more height for the larger hides he'll need. I like the T10s for only $30 more but the wait time is a downer. I'm waiting on 3 of those now. I like them for my boas and smaller carpets. Next year I have to decide on 6' or 8 ft enclosures for my larger snakes. I like the T25, T60, and A35. The wait time for AP cages slurps but they're worth it.

I did the t18 so 6ft. Figure the boa can be in here for a bit, I’m putting my larger female ball into the boss front opening exo 40b, but I’m going to order enough of these to house everyone if I love them.

T18 is 5’.
60”=5’
72”=6’


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by jmcrook

T18 is 5’.
60”=5’
72”=6’


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

---

Oof. That’s ok, I can message them and get see if I can swap for the 6, or just keep the 5 whenever it shows up as we have a few animals lol
I should be more observant of what im purchasing, however in my defense it’s been... weird, latley.

You can surely have it changed. No way it’s shipping in less than 4-5 months at best anyway


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Yeah I know. I’ll take a closer look and and get one of the 6ft options. I figured get the t8 for now so I can have something to look at and decide if I’m going to get 4 or so more t8’s or not. Have 2 leopard geckos that I could split a t8 and that would be awesome, plus it all stacks. I’ve only used fish tanks and the exo front opening, and a tub rack like 6 years ago that’s long gone. Does it come with a sealant or should I buy some? Have seen a few set up videos online but they all leave out a few steps each lol
Ninja edit
I also have heat mats and t stats, but have ordered flexiwat setups and am eyeing the spyder multi units (why can’t redline come in a larger probe count!)

I’ve noticed these pvc sites are all pushing rhp’s but I’m not sure if I know enough to go they route with them. I’ve always used the tape

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by dakski

Boas tend to do fine in bigger tanks even if they are smaller, provided they have enough hides, etc. I moved my 1 year and 3 month old male BI into a 6X2' and he's doing great and growing and gobbling down food, and is still a totally chill animal.

I have all Boaphile tanks and love them. I cannot comment on current lead times, but if you call Jeff Ronne, I am sure he can give you an accurate window.

https://ball-pythons.net/forums/show...t=reptile+area

I have nothing negative to say about AP's, but the lead time turned me off. I also liked how Jeff uses the tanks himself and was able to configure each tank to each individual reptiles needs.

---

I received my 6'x2'x17.5" 6322D Boaphile first week of Sept., I ordered it in mid-June so, 2-1/2 months lead time. I'm keeping my yearling suriname female in it. Love the enclosure, light as a feather, and I like the fact that Jeff installed everything I needed. I'm not handy so I didn't trust myself installing UTH, RHP, lighting. I was considering AP because of price but for me, I needed something ready to go out of the box. More expensive, definitely, but for me well worth it.