PVC Cages

[Neal]

My current cage for my male GTP is 24x24x20. I ordered it several years ago and they offered this cage shipped prebuilt. When I got it all I had to do was basically plug it in, put the perches in place, and place the doors in the slot.

The one on order for my female ETB is a 36x24x24.

I recently got a new tablet and though I thought it would work better with photobucket that is not the reality. PB just sucks. In my profile gallery are some pics of my GTP in its cage.

Yea I have two custom enclosures that were built for me for cheap with led lighting & the smallest rhp. I want to say 16x16x12. I'm going to keep the GTP in a shoebox inside of that, as it'll allow me to maintain the temp better, and depending on the size of the bush viper it'll be in a shoe box type thing as well in it's enclosure. It's sealed birch wood painted flat black, I get to pick them up Saturday but they're just temp enclosures until I move them up to PVC sometime down the road. The GTP I'm getting is a Timika locality, so hopefully it turns out to be a stunner, and it'll get moved up to a 24x24x24 or Cube as I call it when it outgrows it's 16x16x12 enclosure.

[KMG]

Yea I have two custom enclosures that were built for me for cheap with led lighting & the smallest rhp. I want to say 16x16x12. I'm going to keep the GTP in a shoebox inside of that, as it'll allow me to maintain the temp better, and depending on the size of the bush viper it'll be in a shoe box type thing as well in it's enclosure. It's sealed birch wood painted flat black, I get to pick them up Saturday but they're just temp enclosures until I move them up to PVC sometime down the road. The GTP I'm getting is a Timika locality, so hopefully it turns out to be a stunner, and it'll get moved up to a 24x24x24 or Cube as I call it when it outgrows it's 16x16x12 enclosure.

Sounds like a plan to me.

[dorydiver]

Tried a PVC Cage for the first time this year for a BP rescue, and I LOVE it.

Jim was very responsive and helpful; he emailed after I order to let me know he was 2-3 weeks from shipping. I asked him to put the RHP on a certain side, and he got right back to me with the ok. Even checked in to make sure I had a thermostat for the RHP (on behalf of snakes everywhere, I appreciated that since he knew it was the first time I'd ordered from him, he took time to make sure I wasn't clueless).

I like the look better than a lot of other brands, to be honest - sleek, black box, sliding glass doors, no divider in the center of the doors, that's it. Similar to APs - but I still just prefer the PVC Cage look, with no scientific reason why, just personal preference. I like the simplicity.
Was pretty easy to put together; ships in pieces, comes with letter labels on each piece and clear instructions. You just need a screwdriver, and it fits together nicely. Very well made.
Quality is excellent; thick, sturdy plastic with a matte finish, soft enough that you can sink the screws in to be flush. Sliding glass doors are nice and thick, and have small handles built in already, which is nice.
There are two round vents built into the upper portion of the back panel for ventilation. You can drill more holes if you need.
There's a notch cut out in the top/back for the RHP cord and to thread your thermostat probe through - make sure you thread the cords through before you put the cage together, or you'll have to widen the hole a bit to get them through.
Since it's one that is shipped in pieces, you will need to seal or caulk it yourself if you're worried about liquid seeping into the seams. Not really a con, but an extra step if you're someone who likes them sealed.
No extra piece in the center for stability, and I haven't had an issue with bowing.

Anyway, I've been extremely happy with mine. I have the RHP and use an UTH with it as well. Keeps humidity and temps nicely. I did have to add some extra insulation on the back, but that's because I'm in an old house with windows that don't seal, and the cage is near the windows - it rarely drops below 50 degrees here, but there is a pretty sizeable draft through the windows, so it does slightly affect the temps inside on cold days. That's just due to my environment, though, not the quality of the cage.

I didn't get lights installed, since I'm fine with it being nice and dark for the BP, but I almost wish I would have now just for cleaning! Not sure why I didn't do that. Oh well, headlamp still works for me just fine. haha

If you have any other questions or want pics of anything, feel free to let me know.

[Sauzo]

iv only owned ap cages so my input is not that good but I will say that animal plastics cages have been awesome I currently have 2 t-8's and im about to order another one within this month. and yes the customer service is amazing just email ali any question and she responds really quick.


sauzo, I didn't know they stop selling the fluorescent light fixtures now one of the cages is going to look different lol. if I would have known they had led's in the first place I would have put those in all my cages. oh well, I wander if they could send me the led's and i install them myself? gunna have to email ali.

You can order the LED strips from anywhere like Amazon. The thing is AP routes a channel is the roof of the cage so the lights are flush mounted and then they route the plug out the back top corner and make a channel on the outside of the roof for the plug wire to fit in so the whole thing is flush mounted. I personally would rather pay the $40 and have a nice clean recessed light in my cage as I don't have a whole router table set up in my garage lol.

As for doing it yourself, you could just have them route the channels and you order the lights and install them yourself. It really doesn't look that hard.

[Sauzo]

I personally like that AP cages pre routes a channel in the flooring to fit t-stat probes as I only use flexwatt so my cages can stack or sit flat on the floor without damaging the probe. The only thing I don't like from the looks of the PVCCages is that there is no center brace. From what I have seen, PVC cages that don't use a center brace seem to bow after a few years if they are long. Looks like the builder is using a taller header and litter dam to try and offset this but that makes the door opening/viewing window smaller. Its the same design as my Constrictors NW cage and the smaller door opening because of what I mentioned earlier and the sag are bummers, not to mention the biggest he offers is only 48" long. For a GTP, these look pretty sweet, but for a boa or any terrestrial snake that needs cage length, I don't know.

[Neal]

I personally like that AP cages pre routes a channel in the flooring to fit t-stat probes as I only use flexwatt so my cages can stack or sit flat on the floor without damaging the probe. The only thing I don't like from the looks of the PVCCages is that there is no center brace. From what I have seen, PVC cages that don't use a center brace seem to bow after a few years if they are long. Looks like the builder is using a taller header and litter dam to try and offset this but that makes the door opening/viewing window smaller. Its the same design as my Constrictors NW cage and the smaller door opening because of what I mentioned earlier and the sag are bummers, not to mention the biggest he offers is only 48" long. For a GTP, these look pretty sweet, but for a boa or any terrestrial snake that needs cage length, I don't know.

When I spoke to the guy at PVC Cages he stated he has never ran into any sagging, so without any proof I'd more then question the sagging issue as there would be a lot of complaints which would hurt his business. If there's a known issue on something like that, word would get around pretty quickly, like a bad breeder. I'll likely give him a shot at 2-3 cages, and I definitely like the fact he uses an LED fixture, though he doesn't know if it can be dimmed or not.

[KMG]

I've had all my cages several years now. The PVC Cage is rock solid and I don't see the material he uses ever starting to bend, even in a longer cage. Especially since my other cages that are much thinner and hold much heavier loads, one being a 30+lb Blood. If they aren't giving me problems I don't think the PVC Cage ever could.




Also AP will add a light channel so you can add your own led strip for just $10.

[BR8080]

Thank you all for the information here (and throughout the forum), this has really helped with my decision making processes.

One of my last questions before placing my order is this....

I have 1 young bp for now and think a T8 or T10 (either) with the divider and shelf with 2-40W Pro Products RHP will suffice. I will then order a second with an 80W RHP for when she grows out of it to have that space to herself. With the divider I'll have 2-40W installed, when I remove the divider when the second snake reaches the right size should I then order an 80W or just have the 2-40W RHP running?

Have I confused you yet? Sorry so complicated.

Thanks - you guys have been great so far.

[Reinz]

Thank you all for the information here (and throughout the forum), this has really helped with my decision making processes.

One of my last questions before placing my order is this....

I have 1 young bp for now and think a T8 or T10 (either) with the divider and shelf with 2-40W Pro Products RHP will suffice. I will then order a second with an 80W RHP for when she grows out of it to have that space to herself. With the divider I'll have 2-40W installed, when I remove the divider when the second snake reaches the right size should I then order an 80W or just have the 2-40W RHP running?

Have I confused you yet? Sorry so complicated.

Thanks - you guys have been great so far.

I understood you. Makes sense to me.