PVC Husbandry (Animal Plastics, Boaphile, Vision Cages)

[jylesa]

AP makes some nice stuff. RHPs are easy to install. As for sliding or dropdown, that's all on you. My personal enclosures are dropdown, but I've done both. Curious as to why glass over acrylic though. I've had no issues with my acrylic doors. I also second the Herpstat 2. Outstanding unit.

Dave

Thanks for your response! I heard acrylic can warp or scratch over time, but I've never used it before so I couldn't say. Also, glass may evidently be easier marginally easier to disinfect, but overall, I just like the feel/look of glass.

[chrid16371]

Thanks for your response! I heard acrylic can warp or scratch over time, but I've never used it before so I couldn't say. Also, glass may evidently be easier marginally easier to disinfect, but overall, I just like the feel/look of glass.

I also like glass over acrylic. My T10 with swing doors are acrylic and I just think acrylic feels flimsy even though Ik it's strong. Like I said before sliding glass doors are definitely more appealing to me. Being how light the acrylic is it makes me think a snake could slide up on it and it could pop out of the track though this is probably not likely to happen especially with a lock. Glass is just my personal preference.

You won't be sorry with a Herpstat, definitely worth every penny! Other thermostats and dimmers can fail in the on position and can cook your snakes, I've had it happen with one of my leopard geckos but luckily I was home and caught it before temp raised to high. A Herpstat could do it as any electronic device can malfunction but it's highly unlikely, especially the ones with the safety shut off relays.

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[CloudtheBoa]

If I may add, you should buy 2 large reptile basics hides for your snake when you get a new cage, if you don't have any yet. They are not very thick so the heat from the rhp penetrates good giving your snake the correct temp inside the hide. A thicker hide will have problems getting heat in. Plus they are very easy to clean and provide a dark secure hiding place. I use them for all my bps. I say large size bc my ivory is 1072g and fits in a large quite well so your 1000g snake should have no problem fitting.

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Your girl must be big, my 1380 gram ball fits in a medium-sized RBI hide with lots of room left over. My 6.5' BCI fits in a large-sized RBI hide with lots of room as well. I don't think either of them would fit in the next size down, though.

As far as jylesa's questions, I have two AP T12's with 80 watt heat panels. I just got some short screws and screwed the RHP onto the ceiling by hand, I didn't need the use of an electric drill/screw gun to put either cage together. I had so many tell me it was a pain to put them together by hand but it was a breeze! You have to worry about breaking/cracking the plastic with an electric screw gun if it's on too high a setting, too. Make sure to do this before setting the top in place, as it's a real pain to do it after it's all put together.

I personally think the T12 is best for adult BPs and subadult boas, but that's just because I personally prefer 2' of height over 18", a T11 should be fine. Unless the boa you get stays 6' or under, you will eventually need to upgrade to a T20 or T25.

I prefer sliding glass doors. I had plexiglass doors in my bp's original cage for 5 years and it ended up severely discolored, warped, and scratched up by the time we moved. That may have been because of the material, though, idk how the acrylic doors AP offers compares.

I plan on getting a Herpstat 6 by fall, that will control the heat to the majority of my collection and I can keep the rest as back ups. Herpstats are great! I prefer my Herpstat 2 over my VE-100's and Hydrofarms.

[Sauzo]

I actually just ordered 2 AP T10 cages with shelves and locks last week. One for my sunglow boa and one for my pied BP. I ordered sliding glass doors. I do have a ProLine cage which has a drop down acrylic door but they scratch pretty easy. Installing a RHP is easy. I haven't used RBI ones but they just use 2 screws I'm told. I use Pro Product ones and for those, you just lay the top of the cage on the floor with something under it so you don't drill into the floor. Then lay the rhp where you want it, mark the holes with something with a sharp tip or a marker so you can see it. Then drill the 2 holes. Then you put the bolts through and bolt it down. Then hacksaw or dremel the extra bolt length off and you're done. Its pretty easy. I will probably be going with RBI ones on the 2 AP cages since I want to stack them and Ali told me the line up pins are only about 1/2" or so so i'm not sure if the nuts height on Pro Product rhps will allow the guide pins to work if I used furniture pucks between the 2 cages.

Also go with Herpstats. I use 2 of them atm and love them. Dion at Spyder Robotics said you can send in your old Herpstats for firmware updates which is great since my first Herpstat is an older model I've had forever and doesn't have the basking feature like my 2 does. I have Hydrofarms too which work fine in a pinch and I keep mine in the "reptile drawer" for backups along with all kinds of domes, uvb fixtures, cables, cords and all kind of other junk lol.

[chrid16371]

I actually just ordered 2 AP T10 cages with shelves and locks last week. One for my sunglow boa and one for my pied BP. I ordered sliding glass doors. I do have a ProLine cage which has a drop down acrylic door but they scratch pretty easy. Installing a RHP is easy. I haven't used RBI ones but they just use 2 screws I'm told. I use Pro Product ones and for those, you just lay the top of the cage on the floor with something under it so you don't drill into the floor. Then lay the rhp where you want it, mark the holes with something with a sharp tip or a marker so you can see it. Then drill the 2 holes. Then you put the bolts through and bolt it down. Then hacksaw or dremel the extra bolt length off and you're done. Its pretty easy. I will probably be going with RBI ones on the 2 AP cages since I want to stack them and Ali told me the line up pins are only about 1/2" or so so i'm not sure if the nuts height on Pro Product rhps will allow the guide pins to work if I used furniture pucks between the 2 cages.

Also go with Herpstats. I use 2 of them atm and love them. Dion at Spyder Robotics said you can send in your old Herpstats for firmware updates which is great since my first Herpstat is an older model I've had forever and doesn't have the basking feature like my 2 does. I have Hydrofarms too which work fine in a pinch and I keep mine in the "reptile drawer" for backups along with all kinds of domes, uvb fixtures, cables, cords and all kind of other junk lol.

Are you going to use the T10 with a rhp? Mine was bought from somone new in box so it came with the basking shelf even though I didn't want it I had no choice but when I set it up with my pro products rhp the basking shelf was 105 under the rhp so I decided to remove it. Just thought I would let you know with an rhp the basking shelf gets to hot.

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[CloudtheBoa]

Are you going to use the T10 with a rhp? Mine was bought from somone new in box so it came with the basking shelf even though I didn't want it I had no choice but when I set it up with my pro products rhp the basking shelf was 105 under the rhp so I decided to remove it. Just thought I would let you know with an rhp the basking shelf gets to hot.

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Not if it's far enough away. My T12's are 2' tall and the surface of my basking shelf only gets 90-95F

You can also set the temps lower.


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[chrid16371]

Not if it's far enough away. My T12's are 2' tall and the surface of my basking shelf only gets 90-95F

You can also set the temps lower.


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T12s are higher then a T10 so the shelf would be closer to the rhp with a T10. Yes setting temp so the shelf is 90 would work but then the ground would be 80 and unless you put the hot hide on the shelf the ground under the rhp would not be the correct temp. Also bps are not generally climbers so a hot spot and hide on the ground would be best.

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[Sauzo]

Well whoever mounted the RHP did it wrong. I don't plan to mount it above the shelf. I'm going to use the 80 watt ones which are 22x12. The distance from the edge of the shelf to the front of the cage is 16". If you mount if lengthwise, you will have about a 3" gap between the shelf and the RHP. In your case where it was mounted above the shelf, just set your t-stat probe up there and set it according to that.

My BP loves to climb. She might be a weirdo though although another guy I talked to said his BPs like to climb as well. Right now in her temp cage, I got a pvc climbing tree I made her and she spends a lot of time on it. I originally made it for my boas but they actually didn't care for it. They seem to prefer a shelf. They love to climb up and stretch out on a shelf above my bed when I let them out. They will sit there for hours with their head hanging off staring down lol. The BP is impartial about the shelf but loves to climb the pvc "tree" so i'll see how the shelf works for her. If she hates it, i'll just swap cages and put Rosey in the other AP and put Dottie in the Proline.

[CloudtheBoa]

T12s are higher then a T10 so the shelf would be closer to the rhp with a T10. Yes setting temp so the shelf is 90 would work but then the ground would be 80 and unless you put the hot hide on the shelf the ground under the rhp would not be the correct temp. Also bps are not generally climbers so a hot spot and hide on the ground would be best.

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Yes that was my point.

And that's what I do. I only heat the top half of the cage, so the upper right is 90F, bottom right and upper left is 85, and bottom left is 80F. I have the probe directly under the basking shelf, I just have to set the temps lower.


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[jylesa]

Thanks for your responses guys! It's helping me out a ton with the decision making process. I'll poke around and ask if I have any questions on the setup. Thanks again