Folding Jungle Gym

[Prognathodon]

Tonight my husband, Dracos, built a collapsible/folding jungle gym/lambing tree for the snakes. I wanted something for my carpet pythons to explore when out of their enclosures, but it wasn't finished until after the pythons were fed, so the corn snakes, Tanis (normal) and Henry (Anery) got to be the first play-testers. These are cell phone shots, we also took better ones with a better camera, and I'll probably do a write-up on my blog.

Short version is that it is made from four six-foot one-by-fours, 3/16" and 3/8" polypropylene rope, and plenty of staples.

Tanis and Henry approved, it was a challenge to get them loose to go back in their enclosures.




This one is a panorama view, so things look rather warped:




I was keeping a close eye on Gimli the beagle, and I think I was closer to Henry than he appears to be in the picture (Dracos was taking the picture).



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[kriwu]

Really creative!! Looks like the snakes are loving it!! Your dark dog, maybe not so much.

[Prognathodon]

Yeah, Pippin, the black and white husky mix, wrote it off as another weird human/snake thing and was taking a nap.


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[Smitty33]

That's pretty cool. Hey put some lights on it and it can double as a Christmas tree!!

[Reinz]

Great idea, looks like it does the job quite well!

Beautiful Corns! Your Carpets will love it too.

[honey.bee]

So cool!


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[Prognathodon]

The corns were using the lower rope runs to get down to the floor, which in 20/20 hindsight we should have expected. So Dracos pulled the staples and ran the rope from the lower 18-24" across the middle on the upper section. It makes it a little less compact when folded up, but not a big deal.

Both Tanis and Henry are both big enough to make it to the floor even so, but it has slowed them down.

The carpet pythons like it, and head upwards immediately. Bruce, the black and yellow JCP didn't get quite to the top, but I think that's because I was distracting him taking pictures. Yingarna the Bredli made it and perched up there playing queen of all she surveyed.

The BPs don't want anything to do with it. The kings are kinda meh, as is my larger milk snake. Haku is such an idiot about depth perception and balance we won't even try him on it.

It's interesting watching the different behaviors. Corns down, carpets up; the corns and the JCP use their tails, especially the JCP. The Bredli does not. The JCP seems to like the thinner rope, and would balance with one coil on one side of a line, and his head/neck S-ed up on the other, and his tail holding on. He'd rock back and forth when he moved his head in or out, but I never really worried about him falling, he always seemed to be in control (not that I wasn't watching!)



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[Reinz]

My Coastals always shoot to the top as well on the snake ladders. And then they stay there, never heading down, but constantly looking for ways to keep going up.

My adult Ball loves the ladders! But then she has always been climber.

The adult Boa seems indifferent, but she doesn't even climb in her enclosure which has room to do so.

I have not introduced my Jungle Carpet to the ladders yet since she is in quarentine. I don't want to risk contaminating the other snakes when they climb on the ladders.





Lizzy's first time on the ladder.