Grow Tent as BCI Enclosure?

[JP23]

I've seen grow tents used as enclosures for large lizard species and always thought it was a pretty decent and cost effective way to house a reptile that needs a large space, but I haven't seen practically any examples of them being used for large snakes. I have a small female BCI boa that's currently in a 2 x 4 x 2 wooden enclosure but that's as large as I think I can manage as far as building my own enclosure, and any pre-made enclosure that's much larger is pretty pricey from what I've seen. I'd like to move my girl to something around 3 x 6 x 3 once she gets to be around 5 - 6 feet and a grow tent that size is pretty affordable, usually under $200 which sounds great to my wallet. So far from the research I've done the pros are:

- Very affordable
- Made to be climate controlled (holds temperature and humidity well)
- Easy to clean
- Lightweight, easy to move and store since they fold up
- Safe to use with heat bulbs (since some grow lights get very hot)

I feel like these pretty handily outweigh the cons which are:

- Generally not very pretty to look at
- Concerns with durability, which I feel would be less of a problem with snakes since they don't have claws
- Escape Concerns? From what I've seen though this can be pretty easily managed by sealing the vent holes

Does anyone have anything else to add to this? I'm really leaning toward this option when my girl gets to be an adult and I'm curious as to how many other people have considered this and why someone would choose not to use them.

[303_enfield]

Hi, an welcome to BP. Now, the grow tents I use on the farm won't work for any of my BC's. Your snake will try every corner, push on the walls trying to collapse them an find the zipper. Yes, the Boa will open a zipper. You can do a test by putting your snake in a popup tent. It might take a bit but the snake will try to borrow at the base of the zipper. Then bingo the zipper moves just enough. Hook an loop might work better.

How would you keep liquid from leaking out?

Watch craigslist an your local freecycle for large free tanks an cages. I have ten 100-175 gallon fish tanks behind my shop found that way. You can use a free tank as is or take it apart to make a custom enclosure. If your good at woodwork or have a friend. Make an addition to your enclosure.

Good luck!

[Bogertophis]

I'm with 303_enfield..."grow tents" aren't sturdy enough to contain a determined (hungry or otherwise restless) boa, plus you haven't really addressed the heat either-
you cannot safely run a heat bulb INSIDE with a snake that WILL try to climb it & get burned (or even shocked when they're wet)...I don't see this ending well, sorry.

Snakes push & zippers move...just asking for trouble in so many ways. Nothing wrong with re-imagining useful things, I do it all the time, every time I go to a home
improvement or hardware store- but I'm also glad you ran it by us here, for health & safety concerns you haven't considered. You also mentioned they're easy to fold
up...guess how long it will take before a boa demonstrates that...And all bets are off when it comes to safety with a folded tent + snake + heat bulb still functioning.

[JP23]

So, I should mention I've used grow tents for their intended purpose in the past so I do have an idea of the durability of them. Also, I plan on reinforcing the walls with bamboo which I've seen other people do and it seems to work out well for them. I'd think it would be easy enough to find a way to lock the zippers and since all grow tents I've seen are designed to withstand pretty sizeable water spills without leaking I don't see that being an issue (I never had that issue using them with plants). As far as the snake managing to fold up the tent, these tents aren't that type of "fold up" tent, it needs to be disassembled pretty deliberately and I don't see a snake managing to push in the metal locking pins on the bars to slide them apart... As far as other tank options go, even a 180 gallon glass tank would be a bit small for what I have in mind and I live in southern california so I'm having enough trouble keeping the humidity up. A 3 x 6 x 3 plastic enclosure is prohibitively expensive to buy / ship and a DIY wooden enclosure that size probably would be a nightmare to move around, I'd prefer to be able to move the tank by myself if I could.

[Bogertophis]

I hope you let us know honestly how it goes then...& good luck.

[AbsoluteApril]

I don't see a snake managing to push in the metal locking pins on the bars to slide them apart...

I personally don't think a grow tent would work well for a snake enclosure but if you feel confident, you can give it a try, I hope you let us know how it works!

Long time ago, I kept my adult boa in a 4x2x2 glass tank that had a sliding screen top with a pin lock, she learned how to push the pin up from inside and was able to leverage and push the screen top open and get out.
She also eventually learned how to leverage her body against her heavy water bowl and flex the dual locked plexi door on her boaphile enough to get out right in the middle. Moved her to proline cage that had smaller dual locked heavier plexi doors (two small doors, large support between them) which she couldn't get out of and a freedom breeder tub which was simply too heavy for her to push.
Boas are crafty.

[JP23]

I personally don't think a grow tent would work well for a snake enclosure but if you feel confident, you can give it a try, I hope you let us know how it works!

Long time ago, I kept my adult boa in a 4x2x2 glass tank that had a sliding screen top with a pin lock, she learned how to push the pin up from inside and was able to leverage and push the screen top open and get out.
She also eventually learned how to leverage her body against her heavy water bowl and flex the dual locked plexi door on her boaphile enough to get out right in the middle. Moved her to proline cage that had smaller dual locked heavier plexi doors (two small doors, large support between them) which she couldn't get out of and a freedom breeder tub which was simply too heavy for her to push.
Boas are crafty.

If a boa could unlatch the locking pins and pull the bars apart all in one motion I wouldn't even consider them an option, but the way these are interlocked I would be baffled if she managed to both push the pins in and pull the bars apart. I tested this and I don't think it's even possible with how the tents are put together, the mylar shell being on actually prevents the bars from coming apart fully. My honest main concern as far as her getting out would be just brute forcing her way out of the zipper. I've used a couple different grow tents now for plants and I've settled on a
brand that has a particularly robust zipper that I think would be pretty hard for her to push her way through.

[Craiga 01453]

My two cents: buy a proper snake enclosure. When bringing an animal home that means taking on the responsibility of housing it as it grows. A proper enclosure should be factored in when purchasing an animal.

You can spend $200 on a grow tent and experiment, then what happens if it fails?? Now you're out $200 and still don't have a proper enclosure. Now you've got a snake with no enclosure while you what? Wait for one to be shipped??

Just spend the money once and be done. You'll have this enclosure for 20 years or more, it's worth it. Instead of worrying about all the "ifs" and having to basically frame it with bamboo...just buy an enclosure made for a snake. Easy breezy.

[Bogertophis]

I will say that this thread managed to get me curious...I'm not that familiar with grow tents, and after looking at some, what I COULD imagine using one for is a sort
of exercise "play-pen" for my big rat snakes. To install various interconnected branches or bamboo poles & give them some time to stretch out for a few hours a day,
and without them getting into trouble. (Rat snakes are generally great for clearing shelves!)

It would have easy clean up from drinking water or other 'spills', & it appears you could "lock" the zipper pulls together, though there'd still be some 'wiggle room' so
I'd just never leave a snake "home alone" this way. I know I've seen some open-air screen cages designed for reptiles to get some sun in...just never thought about
using a grow tent w/ indoor lighting.

[303_enfield]

Grow tents for those wanting to see them.

https://hydrobuilder.com/grow-tents.html