Redtail ID?? craigslist find: enclosure & boa

[Craiga 01453]

UPDATE: So I decided to ask the seller if they'd sell the enclosure without the snake, despite the ad saying they were a package deal. Seller said yes, make an offer. I offered $250 kinda lowballing. I haven't heard back yet. I'm thinking I'll go as high as $350, maybe $400....

Thoughts???

[AbsoluteApril]

I paid $850 plus shipping for mine new in 2012
$250 is pretty low imo

[hilabeans]

Ya never know if you don't ask! Good luck!

[rock]

FWIW, I like Ed's cages because of the HPDE he uses. It may warp but it's not toxic like the other plastics primarily used for enclosures. He is highly recommended by Nick Mutton so I'm surprised by the lackluster results of other members here.

[Sauzo]

FWIW, I like Ed's cages because of the HPDE he uses. It may warp but it's not toxic like the other plastics primarily used for enclosures. He is highly recommended by Nick Mutton so I'm surprised by the lackluster results of other members here.

I personally didnt like them because like i said, the acrylic door hazed over after a couple years, the cage itself was not very sturdy so it would twist ( i had to put 2 pieces of cardboard in the back right corner to get the door to close straight), the center sagged to where i had about an 1/8 inch gap on both top sides while the center was flush with the door. While the HDPE says stuff wont stick to it, in fact the floor was stained by snake piss but ironically the silicone sealant wouldnt stick to it and with the cage not sitting flush, snake piss would seep through the cracks to the table floor.

As for the endorsement, i personally dont care who endorses a product. I care how i feel it works. Brian Barczyk endorses and owns Reptile Prime and claims it is not dusty. I call BS on that. Take a bag of it and dump it into a white bucket and watch all the dust it creates lol.

Now Ed as a person was great. I had no issues with dealing with him and he was prompt and cordial. I personally just didnt like his cages. Some do like and love them which is ok. I personally like AP cages much better. I could go on about other little things i found wrong or that i didnt like about the cages but there is no point. My advice to most is 'I will give you my take on it and you can take it for what it is but ultimately, you should try it yourself"

[rock]

I personally didnt like them because like i said, the acrylic door hazed over after a couple years, the cage itself was not very sturdy so it would twist ( i had to put 2 pieces of cardboard in the back right corner to get the door to close straight), the center sagged to where i had about an 1/8 inch gap on both top sides while the center was flush with the door. While the HDPE says stuff wont stick to it, in fact the floor was stained by snake piss but ironically the silicone sealant wouldnt stick to it and with the cage not sitting flush, snake piss would seep through the cracks to the table floor.

As for the endorsement, i personally dont care who endorses a product. I care how i feel it works. Brian Barczyk endorses and owns Reptile Prime and claims it is not dusty. I call BS on that. Take a bag of it and dump it into a white bucket and watch all the dust it creates lol.

Now Ed as a person was great. I had no issues with dealing with him and he was prompt and cordial. I personally just didnt like his cages. Some do like and love them which is ok. I personally like AP cages much better. I could go on about other little things i found wrong or that i didnt like about the cages but there is no point. My advice to most is 'I will give you my take on it and you can take it for what it is but ultimately, you should try it yourself"

Sauzo, I appreciate you sharing your experience and input. Nothing beats real world use and insight into a product. As I said, I'm surprised but I don't have my own experience to draw from with Ed's cages. For my permanent enclosures he was my top choice but I had not gotten to that point yet.

As for Nick's recommendation, it was between him and me and he was pretty straight with everything else so I did put weight into his thoughts based on his experience and expertise.

That being said, everyone has a different take and I certainly appreciate yours. Guess I'm back to the drawing board so I will take a closer look at AP as well.

[Sauzo]

Sauzo, I appreciate you sharing your experience and input. Nothing beats real world use and insight into a product. As I said, I'm surprised but I don't have my own experience to draw from with Ed's cages. For my permanent enclosures he was my top choice but I had not gotten to that point yet.

As for Nick's recommendation, it was between him and me and he was pretty straight with everything else so I did put weight into his thoughts based on his experience and expertise.

That being said, everyone has a different take and I certainly appreciate yours. Guess I'm back to the drawing board so I will take a closer look at AP as well.

Thanks and no problem. Like i said, everyone will have different experiences with different set ups and cages. I bought a Constrictors NW cage based on what i was told by people and the fact that the wait was only a couple weeks and ED lives about 2-3 hours from me.

Also one other thing i want to point out which was a big thing for me was Proline cages have sharper corners and edges on them especially the sides where a channel is cut for the door to fit into when closed if that makes sense. AP cages have all rounded edges and corners so there is no sharp anything to them which is really a nice touch. The only downside is the one piece center brace/litter dam, the sides all the way around as a bit rough just from the material i imagine but this makes wiping it down with a paper towel with F10SC kind of a pain as bits of the paper towels will get snagged on the rougher surface.

But anyways, when i was looking for new cages, i did a LOT of research into different cage companies and read reviews by everyone. I ended up settling for AP as the only negatives i found on them was that some people said after a few years they would leak. But from my experience with Lexel, the stuff is like concrete once it sets and i actually had to work hard to remove the old stuff when i was resealing my T10s. they never leaked but i wanted to reseal them with a nice thin bead to make it look nice.

I also looked into Boaphiles as i love the idea of being modular along with offers corner pieces where you could connect cages and make them go around corners in a room. Could make a sweet 8 foot "L" shaped cage lol. But after all the horror stories of Jeff's customer service and how with a few customers who kept trying to get a hold of him and him finally getting fed up and just refunding their money after they waited 2 months for cages, I didnt want to take a chance. Plus I heard the PVC he uses is more porous and will stain and soak up smells. The hinges rust unless you get the black coated ones and just overall how much more expensive everything is for them. Also thought about it and what if a corner or wall or floor gets broke? Being a one piece welded cage, i would have to either try and seal it myself or order another cage. The bolt together cages like AP and Proline, you can just replace a part and be ready t go again. Sure you have to put them together and seal them but honestly that isnt hard.

But anyways, take what everyone says, myself included with a grain of salt. Judge the stuff by the majority vote. Thats what i did and ended with the AP cages and i honestly couldnt be happier...except for APs junk LED light strips lol. Heck, Greg Maxwell endorses PVCCages cages for GTPs. I know a lot of people like those too but i ended up getting an AP cage for Pat as like i said, I love AP cages and Ali is awesome to deal with when/if you have a problem.

[Reinz]

Thanks and no problem. Like i said, everyone will have different experiences with different set ups and cages. I bought a Constrictors NW cage based on what i was told by people and the fact that the wait was only a couple weeks and ED lives about 2-3 hours from me.

Also one other thing i want to point out which was a big thing for me was Proline cages have sharper corners and edges on them especially the sides where a channel is cut for the door to fit into when closed if that makes sense. AP cages have all rounded edges and corners so there is no sharp anything to them which is really a nice touch. The only downside is the one piece center brace/litter dam, the sides all the way around as a bit rough just from the material i imagine but this makes wiping it down with a paper towel with F10SC kind of a pain as bits of the paper towels will get snagged on the rougher surface.

But anyways, when i was looking for new cages, i did a LOT of research into different cage companies and read reviews by everyone. I ended up settling for AP as the only negatives i found on them was that some people said after a few years they would leak. But from my experience with Lexel, the stuff is like concrete once it sets and i actually had to work hard to remove the old stuff when i was resealing my T10s. they never leaked but i wanted to reseal them with a nice thin bead to make it look nice.

I also looked into Boaphiles as i love the idea of being modular along with offers corner pieces where you could connect cages and make them go around corners in a room. Could make a sweet 8 foot "L" shaped cage lol. But after all the horror stories of Jeff's customer service and how with a few customers who kept trying to get a hold of him and him finally getting fed up and just refunding their money after they waited 2 months for cages, I didnt want to take a chance. Plus I heard the PVC he uses is more porous and will stain and soak up smells. The hinges rust unless you get the black coated ones and just overall how much more expensive everything is for them. Also thought about it and what if a corner or wall or floor gets broke? Being a one piece welded cage, i would have to either try and seal it myself or order another cage. The bolt together cages like AP and Proline, you can just replace a part and be ready t go again. Sure you have to put them together and seal them but honestly that isnt hard.

But anyways, take what everyone says, myself included with a grain of salt. Judge the stuff by the majority vote. Thats what i did and ended with the AP cages and i honestly couldnt be happier...except for APs junk LED light strips lol. Heck, Greg Maxwell endorses PVCCages cages for GTPs. I know a lot of people like those too but i ended up getting an AP cage for Pat as like i said, I love AP cages and Ali is awesome to deal with when/if you have a problem.

Well if my AP cages leak I have no one to blame but me.

I can’t get on the Boaphile website right now, the server must be down. But from what I remember those L sections are bolt on, they are meant to be expandable. Maybe one piece welded is available too, IDK.

I also was turned off by the latch system shown on the large cages. The beefy twist latch is gone and now they have a cheesy looking bolt latch.

[AbsoluteApril]

I bought a Constrictors NW cage based on what i was told by people and the fact that the wait was only a couple weeks and ED lives about 2-3 hours from me.

Which style did you buy? his older version or the newer ones?

I also looked into Boaphiles (,,,) Plus I heard the PVC he uses is more porous and will stain and soak up smells. The hinges rust unless you get the black coated ones and just overall how much more expensive everything is for them. Also thought about it and what if a corner or wall or floor gets broke?

Did Boaphile change the plastic he uses? I had a stack bought in 2002, the pvc was not porous on those. The (silver) hinges and bolts did rust over time which was just annoying to replace. One he sent had a cracked corner and he sent me a replacement cage, I had my stack of cages for about 12 years before I sold them off.

[Craiga 01453]

Thanks again for all the info, everybody.

I still haven't made a decision or heard back from the seller. I'm going to text again today and see what happens.

These will be an upgrade from where I'm at, but won't necessarily be "forever" enclosures.

See, the deal is, I have to upgrade enclosures before I can add any new snakes. Soooo, upgrade soon = new snake kinda soon. So, it's kinda a win win. And then I can start squirelling away some money for more "forever" enclosures. Any which way, I'm looking to upgrade my glass enclosures, so we'll see how it plays out...