New Suri! Could use some cage advice

Well I have a new Suriname girl that I can't wait to show you, but right now she is in blue so the pics will have to wait. She is product of a Scott Michaels male and a Bob Futo female. She is 8 1/2 months old and already too big (IMO) for the 20L I have her in. My BCI will also be in the same boat soon so I need to buy some cages. I have narrowed it down to AP or Boaphile. My snake room is only big enough for 5' cages so that is what I want to get. How do you feel about putting my little boas in such large cages? Buy the time they are built, the snakes will probably 8 and 12 months old. The 5' cage is plan A. Plan B is the boaphile expandable cage 3'+2'. Whatcha think???

Go with a boaphile 421D in my opinion...

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Originally Posted by jim020cricket

Go with a boaphile 421D in my opinion...

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Jimi, would you be comfortable keeping a 10' snake in a 421D? Are you saying a 5' cage is too big for the youngsters or just unnecessary? Thanks, I really value your opinion.

You can get the expandable side in a 421D. I doubt your girls will get 10 feet though. My biggest female is barely 8 feet and she is absolutely fine a 421D, but if you wanted to "dazzle" the cage up, you could get an expandable 2 foot addition for it later.

Jimi

How about climbing space Jimi? I'm thinking of going with the AP T20 due its length and also the 2 foot height on it and basking shelf (no, not for Niah for a while ;)) My thought was that this length would give bci's plenty of stretching and movement room (exercise) and the height with the basking shelf in there would also give more opportunity for thermoregulation.
Your 2 cents?? Thanks.

That's up at you two. It won't matter to the boa either or.

I have another question for those of you with boaphiles. How is the flexwatt attached? I didn't quite understand the website but it sounded like there is a space cut into the floor for it. Or Is it just taped to the bottom? The reason I am asking is that it costs $30-35 per piece. I think maybe I could some money there. Thoughts?

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Originally Posted by td30

I have another question for those of you with boaphiles. How is the flexwatt attached? I didn't quite understand the website but it sounded like there is a space cut into the floor for it. Or Is it just taped to the bottom? The reason I am asking is that it costs $30-35 per piece. I think maybe I could some money there. Thoughts?

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Anyone?

Also, if I set the thermostat to 92, what kind of ambient temps can I expect on the other side? I guess this thread really belongs in the caging forum...

Under the boaphile cages there is a couple "slots" for the connectors of the heat tape to fit into w/o interrupting the balance of the cage at all or having anything sticking out the back. My ambient temps are about 82-83.

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Originally Posted by jim020cricket

Under the boaphile cages there is a couple "slots" for the connectors of the heat tape to fit into w/o interrupting the balance of the cage at all or having anything sticking out the back. My ambient temps are about 82-83.

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Do you use the boaphile installed 2x flexwatt or your own? What do you keep your room temp at? Thanks.

My room temps are usually about 77-80. I use flexwatt from RBI on my 421D's. 2 feet per cage, stacked 6 high.

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Originally Posted by jim020cricket

My room temps are usually about 77-80. I use flexwatt from RBI on my 421D's. 2 feet per cage, stacked 6 high.

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So 11"x24" placed lengthwise? One thermostat per cage or one per stack? If you use one thermostat per stack, is the temp on the top cage hotter than the bottom cage (hot air rising)?

I bought my boaphile 421D at Tinley, so the flexwatt (1.5') was attached on the bottom with a stick and peel style. (I have a short tail python in there, instead of a boa though). I've found with every boaphile cage I had to add extra here, so I've got a second 2 foot flexwatt section slid under the cool side in order to keep the temps up.

It may be that my flexwatt on that cage is somewhat defective :confused:

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Originally Posted by Schlyne

I bought my boaphile 421D at Tinley, so the flexwatt (1.5') was attached on the bottom with a stick and peel style. (I have a short tail python in there, instead of a boa though). I've found with every boaphile cage I had to add extra here, so I've got a second 2 foot flexwatt section slid under the cool side in order to keep the temps up.

It may be that my flexwatt on that cage is somewhat defective :confused:

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Based on everything I have been reading, it seems that flexwatt alone does a pretty poor job of increasing ambient temperature. I am also considering skipping the flexwatt and going with a RHP but it seems they have downsides as well. Don't know what I'm gonna do:confused:

I have three RHP's running 3 reptile cages and have not experienced a 'down side'. Do you need to know anything specifically about them? Maybe I can help... :)

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Originally Posted by starmom

I have three RHP's running 3 reptile cages and have not experienced a 'down side'. Do you need to know anything specifically about them? Maybe I can help... :)

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There is a simalar thread in the caging forum, but I see the downside of a RHP being the thermostat placement. I can't think of a good safe spot for it.

I place the thermostat probe through a vent hole in the rear of the cage and lining up midway to the RHP, and zip tie it so that the end of the probe is half way down the side of the cage and is pointing downward (toward the cage floor). This is how Rich, from RBI, recommends that it be done and it has worked extremely well.

Whew...Finally decided. Placed an order for 2 AP T10's for the boas and a T3 for my ball. Ordered a Herpstat Pro to control the RHP's I am ordering. 80W for the T10 and 40W for the T3. Keeping my fingers crossed I won't have to, but I am prepaired to add some belly heat to the balls cage as well. That was was a costly little endeavor:( Suri pics coming soon...

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Originally Posted by td30

Based on everything I have been reading, it seems that flexwatt alone does a pretty poor job of increasing ambient temperature. I am also considering skipping the flexwatt and going with a RHP but it seems they have downsides as well. Don't know what I'm gonna do:confused:

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Sorry I missed all this, I've been super busy.

In my opinion, the flexwatt Jeff sells with his Boaphiles isn't very good. It's lower wattage and takes forever to heat up and doesn't heat up that well at all. I do NOT order my cages with his heat. I purchase my heat tape separately and install it myself. I have absolutely no problems with the heat doing it that way. I place the probe on a bottom of a 6-tier stack of 421D's. The t-stat is set at 90 and the flux is 3-4 degrees higher up the stack and the top cage reads about 90-91. I use 1 T-stat per 6-cage stack.

Heat panels are a great option though, from what I've heard- they work awesome.