Good PVC cages? (Some PVC questions)

[The Breaker]

I think i'd like to spend the money to get a nice enough PVC cage. But is it worth it? Is it that much better than a terrarium?

And if so could you recommend good sites? Also are the heating options and other stuff worth it? Or would it be cheaper to get them separate? And can UTHs get through them?

Sorry about all these questions I just don't fully understand some things. Any help will be much appreciated.

[Randall L Turner Jr]

They are worth the extra expense over glass terrariums. They hold heat and humidity better (in general, won't say that about all of them since I haven't used all of them) Good places to choose from are reptilebasics.com boaphileplastics.com apcages.com

Heating options aren't always worth it, as they charge a premium price by the manufacturers for the convenience, but are easy enough to implement yourself, whether you get heat panels from reptile basics, or pro products, or heat tape from beanfarm, or reptilebasics, etc etc.

With that said, I use both plastic enclosures and glass terrariums successfully keeping boas and ball pythons in both.

[redshepherd]

If you're looking for a pvc cage for a terrestrial or semi-arboreal snake, look at Animal Plastics terrestrial cages, especially the ones "on sale"
http://www.apcages.com/home/

They're REALLY worth the price, especially if you're not super handy with building yourself. You can add on lights or heating, whatever you need. Those costs are worth it too (to me), since they assemble for you. And great customer service too, from everything I hear.

They don't have much variety or option for arboreal cages though. So for that I buy from pvccages.com

It's worth it if you want something quality and pretty to put on display that also holds heat and humidity! Otherwise, large sterilite tubs do just as well.

[Chilcie]

How do you heat PVC?
Will a UTH work normally or are there other, more efficient ways of heating?

[Sauzo]

PVC cages are way worth it and make life easier. I use flexwatt to heat all my cages only but i do keep the snake room around 80F so the flexwatt is just to give them a 90F hot spot t hang out on. Here's a pic of my cages so far. The left stack is T10s(4x2x15). The right stack is T8s(4x2x12) and I'm waiting for my 3 T25s(6x30x18).

[The Breaker]

Thanks again for the help all! The reptile basics display cage 18x34x18 seems to be exactly what i'm looking for especially since it comes with built in LEDs. Plus such a great price.

[The Breaker]

One more question. Would a UTH be enough to heat the air? Or would I also need a radiant heat panel?

[Sauzo]

One more question. Would a UTH be enough to heat the air? Or would I also need a radiant heat panel?

A UTH or Flexwatt will only heat the air a couple degrees at best. You would need the room temp to be around 78-80F. Otherwise you will need a RHP.

[BR8080]

I like to keep my house cool, OK cold...winter thermostat at 55 with 58/60 on a good day and summer it's around 60-62. When I used tank enclosures I HAD to have an electric oil filled heater in the room to raise the ambient temp to 78-80 as the UTH just can't and shouldn't be used for ambient temps. Since I've switched to Animal Plastics T10's and Pro Products RHP's, there's NO need for the heater and the RHP's are doing their job quite well.

My vote, Animal Plastics PVC with Pro Products RHP, controlled by Herpstat of course. So happy with it I've ordered a 4th to top off the rack.

[6strings]

I know this thread is old, but just another opinion like the rest: Plastic cages beat glass cages any day.

To get the properties you want - heat-holding, humidity-holding, security - in a glass tank takes effort and mods. You can do it, but it requires some ingenuity in a cool room, lots of insulation on the glass. Plastic cages just make things easier to accomplish.

Does not have to be PVC. I use NPI cages - they are made from ABS and are just fantastic. They have tempered glass doors if you like displays. Cages made from PVC are good too in that they heat well and hold humidity, although my NPIs heat even easier.