The costs, man! The costs!

[distaff]

My most expensive purchase was for my stack of Monster Cages...

2 - 8’L x 30”D x 12”H
1 - 8’L x 30”D x 18”H
2 - 8’L x 30”D x 12”H divided into 3 units each

$3,025 for all 5 cages, $1,052 for the rhp’s for each cage, and $675 for 9 Johnson Controls thermostats. Grand total of $4,752 not including shipping for everything. The total value of the snakes housed in thise cages....$680 for all 9.

I’ve added several bps this year and my recent cage purchases are from Reptile Basics $225 each (36”x24”x12”), rhp $90 each, and Johnson Controls thermostat $77 each ($392 per cage) times 4 cages. If all goes well and I get enough on my tax return, I’ll be replacing all but the largest Monster Cage with Reptile Basics cages. I will reuse the rhp’s and thermostats for the new cages, and hopefully recoup some of the cost by selling the Monster Cages.

The 8’L x 30”D x 12”H cages are difficult for me to reach the backs to clean. I’m currently using a barbeque scraper to reach, but it is not as effective as I’d like. My main motivation to upgrade is to have cages that are easier to clean. Part of that is planning for the future. I expect to remain in good health and am trying to make positive changes towards that goal, but we get no guarantees. I can’t imagine not having my snakes, so I want to be sure that I’m set up for their comfort as well as ease of use for me.

I bought my first boa for my 50th birthday. About the same time, the BP showed up at my doorstep as a hatchling, needing a home (any home, at that point), ASAP. I hope I'll be caring for these same creatures into my eighties - I wonder about physical abilities too. At least snakes are far easier than the birds; OMG, the mess they like to make! I've been setting up my first serious tub project for a long term home this week. It may be a tub, but it is going to be Fort Knox secure, and it will still be beautiful, while remaining easy-care. Love the glass vivs and Exo-terra's, but when it is just me to move them (I MUCH prefer to work alone), they are so cumbersome and heavy.

I've found that costs DO go down with subsequent additions. I know exactly what I need, how to properly re-purpose some things, and now there is a stash of left over materials for new animals, that I didn't have on hand for the first snake.