Shopping list for a colubrid enclosure?

[Bogertophis]

Great! I almost hesitated to chime in about glass tanks, because I know how it is on forums like this. (I've been around a long time, lol) People talk up plastic cages & you can easily get the impression that's what you need, even for vastly different species. Many also like plastic cages (& racks) to save space: you can stack plastic cages, but not tanks.I prefer being able to see easily into my cages (to see what's "going on" & also to appreciate the beautiful creatures I live with)...it's harder to do that with plastic cages.

When you use UTH it must be regulated (either with a thermostat or rheostat) for safety. If you are using a glass tank on a solid wood cabinet of some kind, the best way to set it up is to use some rubber weatherstripping (comes in a roll with peel-off backing, any hardware store carries it) on the bottom edges of the tank, leaving a few spaces (about 1.5") on opposite ends for a little air flow. (UTH instructions usually tell you they need to "breathe"). Also, you can help protect the wood furniture by putting some thin tile under the tank where the UTH is.

One reason I prefer glass (even though heavier than plastic) is that glass doesn't scratch (even paper towels will scratch up the clear plastic doors in time), and those tiny surface scratches in plastic (even when you don't see them on the non-clear parts of the cage) can make it hard to remove stains, urates, & pathogens. Plastic doesn't hold in heat any better than glass, it all comes down to restricting the air circulation. And it's easy to make glass more private for the snake, or attractive, by adding scenic backgrounds (to back & sides if you want) and you can insulate* glass too, if needed. (*with corrugated cardboard, foam board, carpet tiles, cork, etc) BTW, the PVC cages also give off a plastic smell that I suspect is not healthy, especially for a snake that's enclosed 24/7 breathing it. When I tried those plastic Proline cages, I was always scraping my arm too, when I had to clean the cage & reach all the way in thru the somewhat narrow doors...ugh!

You can buy screen tops or make your own, as I've done for years. They sell clips for the store-bought cage lids but I've never seen any that I trust. If you need any suggestions for making your own tops (& making them escape-proof), let me know. I don't know about where you are, but here, you can also buy tanks with sliding screen tops installed. They use actual 'screen' (like they use on windows, which sags in time), whereas I make my cage tops with 1/4" "hardware cloth" (aka welded wire)- it's much sturdier.