Boaphile vs Animal Plastics

[CALM Pythons]

The flip down doors (IMO) are in the way. Cleaning and all you have to be careful you hit them. The same with any Hinge door I say. I love my Sliders and wont ever get any other style. Plus they pop out as quick as they open if you want.


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[Godzilla78]

I think I will skip over AP and Boaphile and buy a PVCcages.com cage. Excellent!

[CALM Pythons]

I think I will skip over AP and Boaphile and buy a PVCcages.com cage. Excellent!

I like a center brace.. Cant stand sagging.


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[Sauzo]

The flip down doors (IMO) are in the way. Cleaning and all you have to be careful you hit them. The same with any Hinge door I say. I love my Sliders and wont ever get any other style. Plus they pop out as quick as they open if you want.


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Even more important is a drop down door leaves you open to hungry attack if you have snakes like mine who are angels when there is no food but when they smell food, they bite first and taste second lol. Many a times has a sliding door saved my bum from Caesar haha.

[GoingPostal]

Well i can guarantee you will pay a lot more for an equivalent sized Boaphile cage with all the trimmings to an AP cage. My T10s were about $400 each with shelf, LED lighting, locks and flexwatt including shipping.

I don't know about a lot more, when I bought my 421s it was about $381 for cage with heat panel, flexwatt, black hinges and discount for buying several. Think his lighting would bump it a bit over 400 and prices maybe raised since a couple years ago idk but would recommend installing your own led instead either way. Haven't noticed any sagging in my stacks either so far since I've seen that brought up a few times.

[svtvenom]

The sagging issue is what really made me choose AP over Boaphile. I didn't even think of the annoyance of the drop down door when cleaning the the cage or if you have a really feisty eater. Luckily, my boa isn't much of a crazy eater..yet. Thank you everyone for your input!

[dakski]

The sagging issue is what really made me choose AP over Boaphile. I didn't even think of the annoyance of the drop down door when cleaning the the cage or if you have a really feisty eater. Luckily, my boa isn't much of a crazy eater..yet. Thank you everyone for your input!

I had two more thoughts, although it sounds like you made up your mind, maybe others will have similar questions.

1. I imagine most "sagging" issues are due to cage being too long without support and how they are resting/what they are resting on, and what's on top of them! Material probably plays a part as well.

I had a big (5X2X2') molded PVC enclosure. It sagged and was difficult to operate the sliding doors. The temp in the room mattered too. If the room was very warm, it sagged more. I had 4X2' cages from the same company, stacked one on the other, and they never sagged (at least noticeably).

My point is, a properly level tank, with even weight distribution on top, or none at all, should not sag. I admit, I moved on from those tanks and into Boaphile because of that and other heating and humidity issues. They were also not cheap.

I cannot comment on sagging, again, as I have only had the boaphile tanks for 3 months now. However, having two 3X2' tanks making one 6X2' tank means there is a lot of support. I also felt on the old tanks there was too much door and not enough frame around it. I do not feel the same about the tanks I have now.

2. Weight.

How much do AP tanks weigh? Not being snarky, just curious. One of the reasons I went with boaphile is that the new material Jeff is using is very light. Fully loaded with RHP, flex watt, etc. my 6X2X1' enclosure cannot weigh more than 40-45 pounds, tops. They breakdown to two 3X2' tanks that I can hold with one hand.

Less weight = less to sag. Not saying it is an issue with AP at all. I am confident with the lighter tanks and smaller tanks that they will not sag. However, I will keep everyone in the loop.

Additionally, I liked some things about sliding doors, like feeding, but having two smaller open out doors has not created any problems, even with my aggressive feeders (Figment and Behira). I just don't open the front all the way. I open it a little, put in the prey item, and shut the door on the tongs. They come grab it.

Also, how hard are AP tanks to assemble? I imagine pretty easy, but for people not comfortable with that or who want plug and play, that could be at least a minor obstacle.

Finally, when I ordered from Jeff and Boaphile, I knew that I was getting the same product(s) he uses for his Boa collection. That helped me sleep at night (along with a double thermostat, etc).

I was re-reading this thread and thought of these questions/answers.

Again, I just want everyone to have all the knowledge and be happy with what they get/have. Different tastes for different folks.

I am also biased because of how happy I am with my new setup. However, never having had AP, I cannot compare. I do feel Jeff gets a bad rep in customer service though. I had called multiple times (probably close to 50+) to make sure everything was the way it should be and I wanted it (getting specs right). He never complained and took the time, every time. He also spent countless phone calls helping me set everything up.

If I had to do it again, I would consider talking with AP as well. Feeling it out, and seeing what to do.

[artgecko]

I had two more thoughts, although it sounds like you made up your mind, maybe others will have similar questions.

1. I imagine most "sagging" issues are due to cage being too long without support and how they are resting/what they are resting on, and what's on top of them! Material probably plays a part as well.



2. Weight.

How much do AP tanks weigh? Not being snarky, just curious. One of the reasons I went with boaphile is that the new material Jeff is using is very light. Fully loaded with RHP, flex watt, etc. my 6X2X1' enclosure cannot weigh more than 40-45 pounds, tops. They breakdown to two 3X2' tanks that I can hold with one hand.

Also, how hard are AP tanks to assemble? I imagine pretty easy, but for people not comfortable with that or who want plug and play, that could be at least a minor obstacle.

I can't answer 1, because I've never owned a boaphile. I can say that having a center brace on the front of my AP cages makes me feel more secure about it preventing sagging. I think I remember people commenting about sagging had a stack of cages (same size) and were having sagging with cages that were under others. But I haven't had personal experience with it.

2. I can't compare them to other cages, but my AP cages are light... I'm 5'1 female without a lot of muscles (lol) and I could easily life one of my 4'x2' AP cages by myself.. They are long though, so easier to maneuver with a second person. Also note that I remove the glass when I have to move them and AP does use heavy glass.

As for assembly, myself and my husband can assemble an AP cage using a screwdriver (manual, not power) in about 20 minutes. Sealing takes maybe 5-10 minutes depending on how careful you are with it, then the sealing needs to cure for about a week before use. Assembly though, is pretty easy. My husband has assembled one by himself before too when I wasn't at home. Now, I don't think the assembly instructions are that great, but the pieces are labeled and once you've done one cage, it's pretty easy to remember how to do others.


I guess what you really need is someone that has owned both types to give you a fair comparison.. As it's hard to do having only owned one kind.

[dakski]

I can't answer 1, because I've never owned a boaphile. I can say that having a center brace on the front of my AP cages makes me feel more secure about it preventing sagging. I think I remember people commenting about sagging had a stack of cages (same size) and were having sagging with cages that were under others. But I haven't had personal experience with it.

2. I can't compare them to other cages, but my AP cages are light... I'm 5'1 female without a lot of muscles (lol) and I could easily life one of my 4'x2' AP cages by myself.. They are long though, so easier to maneuver with a second person. Also note that I remove the glass when I have to move them and AP does use heavy glass.

As for assembly, myself and my husband can assemble an AP cage using a screwdriver (manual, not power) in about 20 minutes. Sealing takes maybe 5-10 minutes depending on how careful you are with it, then the sealing needs to cure for about a week before use. Assembly though, is pretty easy. My husband has assembled one by himself before too when I wasn't at home. Now, I don't think the assembly instructions are that great, but the pieces are labeled and once you've done one cage, it's pretty easy to remember how to do others.


I guess what you really need is someone that has owned both types to give you a fair comparison.. As it's hard to do having only owned one kind.

Thank you for the info! The more info the better!

Good point on taking the glass out.

Anyone out there have both the new boaphile tanks and AP?

Well, I am sure over time, we will get more posts here as people buy tanks and try different brands etc.

Thank you again!

[Reinz]

I have: 2 Boaphiles
4 AP, plus 2 more on order since Oct
1 BoaMaster melamine
2 copies of AP

My favorites are the AP and Boaphiles (BP) with more lean toward AP.

I absolutely LOVE the thick drop down doors on the BP. It really helps with ease of cleaning, changing water bowls, or pulling the snake out.

I have a Boa that is just as vicious as any Retic at feeding time. (I have helped feed Mainlands and SD/D at a local breeder). I find the drop down door is not a problem. If I can’t enter the food from the opposing door, I just slide it in as far away from the snake as possible, then close the door with just enough room to slide my 16 inch hemostats across toward the Boa. Thus, the drop down door can be used as a shield just as easily as sliding doors.

BP hardware: I have one cage with Black, one standard. They both have stainless steel hardware on the hinges on the inside of the cage. On the outside, the nonblack hinges have minor oxidation. Of course the black just looks much better, but overall a minor issue.

Now the Cons; someone said lighter weight material means less sag while stacking. Yes, only if you are stacking BPs! Otherwise anything else on a BP will cause sagging. You can put most anything on an AP and it will not sag.

The other problem with BP is it is too thin to mount anything with screws that are short enough without protruding. If you think that you may want a RHP at some point you better order it installed by them with their special reinforcement for horizontal mounting. I had to use through bolts after the fact to mount a different RHP. This means that I can not stack on that cage. Not that I would anyway, the top is soooo caved in, it is beyond sagging.

Lastly, height limitations on BP. I just prefer higher cages than they offer.

Since this his is a long post, I will stop here and post about the others separately.