Great Cages for Ball Pythons But Shipped From Canada

[kitedemon]

This one I paid for glass over plexi, lock (required in my region by law) and yes the lighting. Over all it was a great experience. The enclosure is 2 years and have no real complaints with it. well one but it is minor the glass track fits tight to the wall and substrate gets caught in it sometimes and is hard to get out.

Greg West is also a great guy and has similar pricing but the enclosures start with less so there is more add ons he does offer far more options. I have dealt with him many times over the years. He is very fair.

I personally have not ordered directly from AP myself but I have friends whom have the additional fees brokerage (about 40$) Shipping is about 75$ and then duty if the forums are not absolutely correct. 189+40+75=304 duty is about 20% (if charged so 364) so more. The cross border thing is can be a killer the price in my experience needs to be greater than 40% less to be certain it will be a deal.

[The Serpent Merchant]

This one I paid for glass over plexi, lock (required in my region by law) and yes the lighting. Over all it was a great experience. The enclosure is 2 years and have no real complaints with it. well one but it is minor the glass track fits tight to the wall and substrate gets caught in it sometimes and is hard to get out.

Greg West is also a great guy and has similar pricing but the enclosures start with less so there is more add ons he does offer far more options. I have dealt with him many times over the years. He is very fair.

I personally have not ordered directly from AP myself but I have friends whom have the additional fees brokerage (about 40$) Shipping is about 75$ and then duty if the forums are not absolutely correct. 189+40+75=304 duty is about 20% (if charged so 364) so more. The cross border thing is can be a killer the price in my experience needs to be greater than 40% less to be certain it will be a deal.

But the OP lives in the US so there won't be any extra fees from AP, and I'm assuming that there will be with any Canadian company. I do like the look of those cages though.

[kitedemon]

lightbearer, I tend to side with Deborah. I believe research from multiple RELIABLE sources is critical. There are a number of great books and great care sheets out there. Sadly there are a number of very very poor care sheets out there as well I recently read one that had more things incorrect than correct. Multiple sources. My suggestion would be to buy a few good books and read ask questions and read some more. Then start setting up the enclosure it often takes a few weeks to get it stable so that is best done with out snake.

I have my opinions on husbandry we all do. There are things that are just wrong but most are debatable.

Snakes in general are secretive animals and do better seeing than be seen. They NEEd to feel secure in the captive environment hence the idea of small enclosures for small snakes. That is one way I have very successfully placed small snakes in larger enclosures but this requires thought and care to make sure the animal feels secure smaller spaces are easier generally.

Royal aka Ball Pythons will often not eat if they are not 100% secure, if the temps are not correct (either too high or too low) if they are sick, in breeding mode, and a handful of other possibilities.

Research is an important part of keeping exotics, there is often new ideas popping up and old ones discarded so learning is never done. careful observation and notes also is a very good practice it helps to establish norms, so problems may be noticed sooner.

I guess what I am trying to say is never believe any one persons word, everything needs to be cross referenced with others, and not just a forum there is often a follow the leader effect that happens sometimes.

There is one book to my mind stands over almost every other I have seen, I would absolutely recommend it to you and anyone. It is reasonably priced for the amount of information it has and the amount of research it contains. Unfortunately it is the price of many university text books.

Pythons of the World, Vol II: BALL PYTHONS By D and T Barker

http://www.vpi.com/store/products/py...ing_in_usa_can

I would suggest this book over a cage even if it means you need to wait a few months more.

[The Serpent Merchant]

lightbearer, I tend to side with Deborah. I believe research from multiple RELIABLE sources is critical. There are a number of great books and great care sheets out there. Sadly there are a number of very very poor care sheets out there as well I recently read one that had more things incorrect than correct. Multiple sources. My suggestion would be to buy a few good books and read ask questions and read some more. Then start setting up the enclosure it often takes a few weeks to get it stable so that is best done with out snake.

I have my opinions on husbandry we all do. There are things that are just wrong but most are debatable.

Snakes in general are secretive animals and do better seeing than be seen. They NEEd to feel secure in the captive environment hence the idea of small enclosures for small snakes. That is one way I have very successfully placed small snakes in larger enclosures but this requires thought and care to make sure the animal feels secure smaller spaces are easier generally.

Royal aka Ball Pythons will often not eat if they are not 100% secure, if the temps are not correct (either too high or too low) if they are sick, in breeding mode, and a handful of other possibilities.

Research is an important part of keeping exotics, there is often new ideas popping up and old ones discarded so learning is never done. careful observation and notes also is a very good practice it helps to establish norms, so problems may be noticed sooner.

I guess what I am trying to say is never believe any one persons word, everything needs to be cross referenced with others, and not just a forum there is often a follow the leader effect that happens sometimes.

There is one book to my mind stands over almost every other I have seen, I would absolutely recommend it to you and anyone. It is reasonably priced for the amount of information it has and the amount of research it contains. Unfortunately it is the price of many university text books.

Pythons of the World, Vol II: BALL PYTHONS By D and T Barker

http://www.vpi.com/store/products/py...ing_in_usa_can

I would suggest this book over a cage even if it means you need to wait a few months more.

I recently purchased this book, I completely agree, it is great and worth every penny.

[kitedemon]

But the OP lives in the US so there won't be any extra fees from AP, and I'm assuming that there will be with any Canadian company. I do like the look of those cages though.

Sorry Aaron, I stand corrected, I had assumed the OP was in Canada. My mistake. The same could easily be true in reverse. The AP cages I have seen are almost the same very well made and similar design. IMO many times superior to the RRE ones I have seen and looked at on the web site, I have concerns with the basic designs they have been using.

Op you might look at Vision as well David Northcott is a also easy to deal with. The roto moulded design has rounder corners and is easier to clean but the hard corners of my Sly has never caused issue.

[The Serpent Merchant]

Sorry Aaron, I stand corrected, I had assumed the OP was in Canada. My mistake. The same could easily be true in reverse. The AP cages I have seen are almost the same very well made and similar design. IMO many times superior to the RRE ones I have seen and looked at on the web site, I have concerns with the basic designs they have been using.

Op you might look at Vision as well David Northcott is a also easy to deal with. The roto moulded design has rounder corners and is easier to clean but the hard corners of my Sly has never caused issue.

It is understandable, this thread has had a few people asking questions, and a few of them are from Canada.

I don't understand why there needs to be such a big difference in price when shipping internationally. It's such a pain to deal with.

[Giftbearer]

Looked at Animal Plastics. There are a few that look like they would work. I may need to call them though to narrow it down. They do have alot of customization it looks like!

[The Serpent Merchant]

Looked at Animal Plastics. There are a few that look like they would work. I may need to call them though to narrow it down. They do have alot of customization it looks like!

I have 4 of their T8's, they are the cheapest, and the perfect size. Just get it with the divider so when your snake is small, you can keep it in half of the T8 then later remove it and let the snake have the full thing.

[Giftbearer]

OK, thanks. That was one thing I wanted to know. Can two smaller snakes fit in; one on each side of that cage design?

[The Serpent Merchant]

I took a look at Animal Plastics and I see several that might work. I'll probably need to call them to find out which is going to be the best for the money. There are so many combinations of options.

I can show you what works for me:

T8 with sliding glass doors

Sliding glass door locks (not required as the snakes can not open the doors anyway. Its to keep people out)

Flexwatt belly heat

2 florescent lights

and the pop in/pop out divider.

besides the cage all you will need to get is a thermostat ( I like Herpstats, but Hydrofarms work too if money is tight) and cage decor (substrate, hides, water dish)