Questions about plastic cages. Belly heat and preferences?

[lusciousdragon]

I currently have a homemade rack system for my snakes. But I would like to get 2 nicer display styles for my 2 favorite snakes, the plastic stack-able kind, like Boaphile and Vision for example. I've looked at 9 different companies so far. What are you favorite plastic stackables? The snakes that would go in these are a hog island boa that needs a little bit more height than the standard 12 inches because he likes to climb and periscope around. Then the other is an albino ball. I know I want one with a white inside so I could see them better, but other than that I am just looking at size and if I can heat it properly.
I am also confused about how to heat. I see mention of heat tape on numerous websites for these cages. I currently use heat tape in my rack so I am familiar with it. Does it just go underneath the plastic cage? How about the clips being in the way of stacking? Wouldn't the cage on the bottom of the stack of 2 be warmer since it would be sharing the heat tape from the top cage's bottom and then also its own bottom heat tape? It would have heat tape on top and bottom then. Is the heat tape warm enough to go through this thicker plastic? My tubs are thin plastic so the heat tape is underneath and it heats fine inside. I also see mention of special recesses on some cages to put the heat tape too. Just kind of confused. Most of these websites don't describe the heat tape/heating style accommodations very well.
I have currently looked at boaphile, pvc cages, vision, npi (both styles), dragons4u, animal plastics, reptile basics, cold blooded enclosures, and constrictors northwest.
Thanks so much for any information! I just think I have too many options and not enough info to make an informed decision.

[kitedemon]

Personally I like vision, they are super easy to clean as they are not slab constructed. I would also suggest not bothering with a 12 inch at all, the bit taller ones again are easier to clean a 9 inch door is hard to get in and out of.

There are a handful of heat systems tapes are fine I personally prefer UTH as they will not be removed especially when you look at the low wattage types.

[Gio]

I currently have a homemade rack system for my snakes. But I would like to get 2 nicer display styles for my 2 favorite snakes, the plastic stack-able kind, like Boaphile and Vision for example. I've looked at 9 different companies so far. What are you favorite plastic stackables? The snakes that would go in these are a hog island boa that needs a little bit more height than the standard 12 inches because he likes to climb and periscope around. Then the other is an albino ball. I know I want one with a white inside so I could see them better, but other than that I am just looking at size and if I can heat it properly.
I am also confused about how to heat. I see mention of heat tape on numerous websites for these cages. I currently use heat tape in my rack so I am familiar with it. Does it just go underneath the plastic cage? How about the clips being in the way of stacking? Wouldn't the cage on the bottom of the stack of 2 be warmer since it would be sharing the heat tape from the top cage's bottom and then also its own bottom heat tape? It would have heat tape on top and bottom then. Is the heat tape warm enough to go through this thicker plastic? My tubs are thin plastic so the heat tape is underneath and it heats fine inside. I also see mention of special recesses on some cages to put the heat tape too. Just kind of confused. Most of these websites don't describe the heat tape/heating style accommodations very well.
I have currently looked at boaphile, pvc cages, vision, npi (both styles), dragons4u, animal plastics, reptile basics, cold blooded enclosures, and constrictors northwest.
Thanks so much for any information! I just think I have too many options and not enough info to make an informed decision.

Kitedemon always has good insight and I've PM'd him a few times.

I have not been involved in snakes very long. We started with my Son's Royal last year, and I have gone bananas with research since then. I have read something everyday, researched cages, snakes, I own books written by experts, and consider myself a quick study, yet I'm still learning and open to new advice.

I had plenty of time to research cages for my boa. I have a Barranquilla Colombian BCI male. He's not quite a year old and is a bit over 3 feet long. He likes to climb, is an aggressive feeder like most boas.

I looked at all the cages, and while I do have $$, I'm not rolling in it, and I want to spend what is reasonable whenever I can. My wife is not a huge fan of the hobby yet has put up with it.

My choice of cage after all the research was the Pro-Line 48" X 23" X 14".


I personally believe the plastic used for the cage is the best in the Bizz. Nothing sticks to it, it is sturdy, easy to clean and looks nice. It comes in the color you want which was white I believe?

I looked at Animal Plastics, they are nice, but I wanted a front loading single window and the price WITH SHIPPING was more than the comparably sized Pro-Line. Vision cages are nice too. I thought they were a bit more $ and the ceiling has some strange dips and shapes.

PVC cages are nice as well, but cost more $

I personally did not care for the Boaphiles. I thought they were thin and fragile and the used ones I've seen seem to have retained smells and stains. But there are a ton of people who swear by them.

Calculate shipping and size.

I felt the 14" tall was perfect. Not too short as Kitedemon pointed out. Boaphiles are actually 11". They are hard to reach into and clean and I think they are a tad too short for a snake that will climb. Again PRO's use them and some love them.

Going too tall brings up heating issues. I had some money to spend, but I wanted to be smart. I looked hard at the Animal Plastics T-10 which is 15" and but ended up with the Pro-Line.

I heat with 1 radiant heat heat panel. I used a Herpstat 1 and monitor the cool side with the probe. I have cool side temps at 80-81. The basking side is 90-92. Ed at Constrictors NW put me in touch with Bob at Pro-Products and he spoke to me and set me up with the proper heat panel. Be prepared to give your ambient room temps, distance your cage will be from the floor, size of the cage and some other details. He will get you a panel that will control your whole enclosure. I saved a lot of $$ using 1 heat source and I was able to go from the planned Herpstat II to the Herp I.

Kitedemon has good insight on heating and so does Bob at Pro-Products. I have nothing that comes close to their knowledge.

My set up works that's all I know. The hobby is not cheap, but you can spend wisely and get good stuff. I always kept a bit of $ left over because I will not heat without a Herpstat.

PM me if you need some help. I just finished the process and am very happy.

[FireStorm]

I'm planning on going with one from these guys when I get around to setting up a display for our Carpets:
http://www.dragons4you.net/Cages.html

I have a hatchling rack from them and love the quality. They also are very willing to do custom sizes if you need something they don't stock.

[ewaldrep]

I went with proline cages, exactly like the ones Gio has posted above. I went with them for the plastic used and the drop down door. Animal plastics are pretty good too but I didn't like the sliding doors. Many of the have their pros and cons and for me it was the better protection against bio fluids that helped me make my decision, otherwise I would have gone with Boaphile plastics (which many, many people swear by as well). I looks like you are doing your research to help make an informed decision so happy hunting

[lusciousdragon]

Thanks everyone. I am still looking. I am now going through my list and seeing which companies keep them in stock. It seems like there is a long wait time for many of them, like a month or longer. We might be moving out of state next month so I can't have a long wait time or I might not be here to receive them and I need to sell my old rack before moving. I really like the NPI cages, the weird angled ones. They are a perfect size. But they can't be stacked without the expensive rack. I need to look up photos of what other people have done with them. The proline guy is saying 5 to 6 weeks wait time. I am also looking at the Dragons4U ones. They are in stock and are a pretty decent price.

[Gio]

That is the downside of caging. The wait time can be long. I've heard Boaphiles can take forever, but again if you check some Craigslist adds or some other classifieds you may find your style of cage for a good price.

I read someplace that the PVC cages had the least amount of wait time, but they are a bit more $. I e-mailed Jim at PVC when I was looking at some perch ideas. He was pretty prompt and polite in his responses. You may want to check them out.

Good luck.

[Coopers Constrictors]

Reptile Basics is what I use for all of my adults. Super fast shipping and the racks are ready to ship out at a moments notice.

OR... you can build one yourself for little to nothing. I recently built a very sturdy baby rack for $250 that will house 64 individual baby balls in 6qt tubs... its really how you go about doing it. Take your time and shop around. Go to home-depot and look around at everything they have to offer (materials) as well if you are interested in building one yourself. The heat tape will go under the tubs. If you build one, build it first with spacing for heat tape, then measure how much heat tape you need, and order some of the new THG Heat Tape. Flexwatt is old news.

[rossi46]

Another vote for the Pro-Line stuff from ConstrictorsNW. Yes, the wait seems a little long, but a couple things... a) I was quoted 5 weeks and it arrived in 5 weeks on the dot; b) you're going to have these for a long time, it makes sense to go with the best stuff out there, even if that means waiting a little.

The quality and customer service cannot be beat!

[lusciousdragon]

OK. I made a decision. I went with Pro-line at www.constrictorsnw.com. Two 36 by 23 by 14 white cages turned into a Pro-stack (attached together top to bottom) with a heat panel in the middle. Custom order because of the pro-stack. The cage on the top has their fancy shelf option for my hog island to climb up into. $421.50 total. Free shipping. I felt this was the biggest size, with the right proportions I was looking for, at the best price. Plus they look beautiful and other people seem to really like them. I like the Pro-Stack idea of having it be one unit too. These should be my only display snakes, the rest should all be kept in their rack. But then again when people get into snakes they always say they will only get 1 ha ha. The whole potato chip theory. My husband is not happy with the price and can not believe that these cages cost that much. I told him that they would cost around $200 a piece for the right size. So he looked it up himself. He was pulling up more expensive companies and going "OH those are twice as much". Ha ha. I really like the ones at showcasecages but those are twice as much. Then he asks about building one out of melamine, like he made the rack from, but that isn't the fancy plastic type stuff that I wanted so he was out of luck on that. I think he will be building me a pedestal out of the melamine though to put the cages on. I will post photos once it arrives in 5 to 6 weeks. Thanks to everyone for your help! I really appreciate it.