Never thought it would happen but,,,

[Gio]

The ball is finally rolling. My lovely, awesome wife gave me the thumbs up (plus a weird look) and said I could delve a little deeper into my new hobby. The quest for a boa moves closer to a reality.

Today, after a lot of research and help/advice from people here and elsewhere, I ordered my new cage. I decided to go with the Proline 48x23x14 in black. Soon I will be in the hunt for a nice, male Colombian BCI.

I'm going to try to heat with a RHP and a UTH hooked to a Herpstat II.

I would like to know what most people like to use for viewing lights? Are there and fluorescent shaped (long thin) bulbs that are infrared? I would consider using something other than the traditional white bulb. or even looking into the LED type lights.

Has anybody ever ordered 48" perches from PVC cages? I saw some nice ones on their web page but I'm not sure if those are exclusively for their cages.

Anyhow, I'm very excited and can now focus on the snake I want. My cage should be here in 4-5 weeks and I will get it set up with everything and then sometime in the summer look to add the snake.

Whoooooo Hooooooooo!!!!

[aldebono]

Congrats! You will love the boas!

[ewaldrep]

I got the RHP for the exact same cage and it works great. I'm not using belly heat so I will see if I change my mind about that later. I used a set of LED lights that have a snap in action so that it would be easy to replace if I need to in the future and they look great inside the black prolines

[Gio]

I got the RHP for the exact same cage and it works great. I'm not using belly heat so I will see if I change my mind about that later. I used a set of LED lights that have a snap in action so that it would be easy to replace if I need to in the future and they look great inside the black prolines

Hey, could you post pictures and let me know what kind and where you got your LED lights?

I'd love to see your setup anyhow, and any lighting ideas are welcomed!

Thank you very much for responding.

[ewaldrep]

Hey, could you post pictures and let me know what kind and where you got your LED lights?

I'd love to see your setup anyhow, and any lighting ideas are welcomed!

Thank you very much for responding.

sure thing, I just posted this the other day: http://ball-pythons.net/forums/showt...p-and-running!

here are the lights http://www.lowes.com/pd_406106-57299...binet+lighting
http://www.lowes.com/pd_406106-57299...binet+lighting

not sure if I did that right but if not I hope you can copy and paste the link in a browser

[Evenstar]

Personally, I wouldn't bother with the light. Boas don't need one and they are not too appreciative of a light in their face all day long. If you want to spend the money to put one in and only turn it on when you specifically want to look in the cage or to aid with cleaning, that would be appropriate. But I wouldn't leave the light on all day - as long as the room the cage is in has natural light. If not, that's another story.

I have a pvccages.com cage for my GTP and I got the perches with it although I don't use them. They are nice and I don't think Jim has them designed to go with his cages specifically. BUT boas are only semi-arboreal and they can get somewhat clumsy at times. A better option would be to put in a shelf for climbing instead perches. You could add a thick sturdy branch too if you wish. But the pvc perches might be slippery for boas.

Congrats!!! Don't let your wife know that now the addiction starts................

[Gio]

Personally, I wouldn't bother with the light. Boas don't need one and they are not too appreciative of a light in their face all day long. If you want to spend the money to put one in and only turn it on when you specifically want to look in the cage or to aid with cleaning, that would be appropriate. But I wouldn't leave the light on all day - as long as the room the cage is in has natural light. If not, that's another story.

I have a pvccages.com cage for my GTP and I got the perches with it although I don't use them. They are nice and I don't think Jim has them designed to go with his cages specifically. BUT boas are only semi-arboreal and they can get somewhat clumsy at times. A better option would be to put in a shelf for climbing instead perches. You could add a thick sturdy branch too if you wish. But the pvc perches might be slippery for boas.

Congrats!!! Don't let your wife know that now the addiction starts................

The lights will be for viewing purposes only. The basement is a finished, but REAL basement. We have the little windows, but not egress windows, and the light is very low throughout the day for the most part. I'm housing the snake there for quarantine purposes, and the fact that my wife does not want my son's room crowded with snake cages. I suppose asking to have it on my side of the bedroom is a bad idea??

I did not order a shelf, as Ed told me with a RHP and a 14" cage the shelf would limit the RHP's coverage. He advised I use 3 perches level and about 4-5 inches apart to support the boa. I liked the sound of that and I save a few dollars.

Having mentioned perches and "semi arboreal" Do you find male and female boas equally interested in climbing? Or with the leaner bodies do the males tend to climb more and more into adulthood?

[Evenstar]

The lights will be for viewing purposes only. The basement is a finished, but REAL basement. We have the little windows, but not egress windows, and the light is very low throughout the day for the most part. I'm housing the snake there for quarantine purposes, and the fact that my wife does not want my son's room crowded with snake cages. I suppose asking to have it on my side of the bedroom is a bad idea?? What about in the living room??

I did not order a shelf, as Ed told me with a RHP and a 14" cage the shelf would limit the RHP's coverage. He advised I use 3 perches level and about 4-5 inches apart to support the boa. I liked the sound of that and I save a few dollars. Fair enough. Sounds like a good plan.

Having mentioned perches and "semi arboreal" Do you find male and female boas equally interested in climbing? Or with the leaner bodies do the males tend to climb more and more into adulthood? No not really. Babies will generally climb more than adults, but both male and females will climb. It's more a question of what the keeper provides. Many keeper opt to save space, or have a bunch (like me! ) and have to use lower cages so the boas don't have the ability to climb. Which is sad, really. I wish I had the room to have a 4-6ft tall cage for each one....

[Gio]

"What about the living room?"

LOL! you are funny!! If I could pull that one off I'd be doing really well. I think it's basement.

[xFenrir]

We built our own enclosure, which allowed for a LOT more customization. It's made of melamine wood; the "doors" are actually those windows that open outwards horizontally, and we went out on an adventure and sawed off our own "tree" for her to climb on/use as a basking spot if wanted. The side "windows" are plexiglass. There's also a piece cut out of the bottom where we put in a glass panel for a UTH.

It's a lot of fun to build your own! It's still not finished (we still have the molding to put on and other aesthetic things, can't find big enough plastic plants to put in there) but it's fully functional for her to live in.






If you really want a display that people can look at, building your own is a great way to go. It's not really practical to do for EVERY one of your snakes if you want to have multiples though.