Best display cage for Sumatran Short Tail?

[Aryus]

Hello everyone! Im not new to the forum but this is my first time posting. Im a proud owner of a male Sumatran Short Tail, he is by far the most amazing snake I've ever had. Many thanks to Kara Norris at the Blood Cell, she produces some amazing animals, my boy included. But anyways i'll get down to the point of me posting this. My boy is a year old now and still has much more time to grow to his full adult size but I wanted to begin my search for the best display cage before I need to rush out and get one. I have been looking at Proline, Animal plastics T8, and maybe Boaphile 422D.

I am leaning more toward Proline, do to some of my research about the plastic he uses and the ease of cleaning, very well made as well as the fact that they are not porous (supposedly) and will not smell like snake urine after a few years. I like Animal Plastics for the price but I've read on some other forums that they can leak if not properly sealed and they sometimes do not fit right together. I am not that interested in boaphile because I've read that after a while they start smelling like urine which would be quick since bloods are notorious for their big poops and urates, that fact that his customer service is not that great and that the hinges sometimes rust. But if anyone has never had this happen before I would not mind looking into them more. I just want the best for my guy since he is my pet and an amazing animal.

Also would I have to get the flaxwatt heat tape with it or would a regular heat pad that I already have still work? Any preference between sliding doors or the swing out ones? I definitely want locks on the doors to prevent escapes as well as people getting in the cage and messing with him.

I am asking you guys this because on the other forums, the replies seemed to be very biased toward one cage or another (some replies made the cage seem like a gift from the gods) and one site even owned by one of the makers causing the repliers to be very one sided to one cage. If you have any experience with all or even just two of these cages and could let me know your unbiased thoughts on these cages that would be great! Which one in your experience works best with blood pythons? From what I read, all of these cages are almost equal to each other. I just wanted to get some advice from some fellow blood people and see what you use for display cages.

Thanks so much in advance!

[aahmn]

Out of the listed cages, I do only have AP cages (T8). They are very sturdy and generally pretty easy to put together. I have had 2 pieces over the multiple orders I've had with them that weren't routed to fit the slots they were supposed to fit into, but they were extremely quick in sending replacements. Besides that, as long as you make sure each piece is lined up, they fit together very nicely. You do have to run the sealant yourself, which leaves room for error. I think they are more solid (thicker plastic) than Boaphile. The flexwatt under the cages work well - you obviously should have them on a hard surface and not on carpeting or anything. I'm not sure about the heat pad. I don't know what kind you have, but some of them can get hotter than the heat tape and I'd be a little wary of using them.

They are very nice cages and look good. I have sliding doors and there is an overlap of cage inside the glass which makes it harder for the snakes to accidentally push the glass open. I have noticed that urates can stick to the cage surfaces a bit more than I expected. They can stick to everything though, and it does come off with cleaning and some extra soaking. I just bought a hand-held steam cleaner, so I'm hoping that will help me with cages. Other than that, I just have AP racks and can't attest to the long term smell of cages. So far, so good!

[GoingPostal]

I only have experience with boaphile but I think any of them will work fine, just depends on what you are looking for. I like doors that swing out because I use bedding that would get jammed in sliders but sliders are good if space is limited too. I have no desire to build anything so wanted a ready to go cage that would look nice and hold humidity/heat well. My original boaphile is at least 5 years old and haven't noticed any odor issues, got the black hinges to match and have called and asked the owner questions both times I ordered cages. He does take a long time to get your cage to you is my only complaint but I plan in advance and get the cages before the snake anyways.

[CryHavoc17]

You cant go wrong with any if the brqnds you mentioned. I have boaphiles and I really like them a lot. I dont know anything about the smell issue, thats never happened to me but that doesnt mean it can't/wont.

I really dont care for sliding doors. I just think that drop down doors work the best, but that is a matter or personal preference.

ProLines are a great product too. I went boaphile over proline because the boaphiles come assembled and bonded. I figured he would do a much better job of that then I could myself, and I was correct about that. The wait time and lack of customer service on them is annoying tho

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[Kara]

Before switching to racks, I loved the white AP T-10s with locking, sliding glass doors & heat tape. Never had a problem with the pieces fitting together correctly, and I would always tear them down once a year (not all at the same time, mind you), give them a thorough scrubbing & then re-silicone them, in addition to regular cleaning and maintenance. If for some unseen reason I ever end up switching back to cages, that's the exact setup I would use.

$.02...