The Snake Den - Phase 1 (9/01)

Background Info:
All the cages in the pics (with the exception of the wooden one) were constructed by Jeff Ronne (also known as the Boaphile). I first purchased cages from Jeff at the Daytona National Show in August 2001. I picked up three of his "Drastic Plastic" cages (characterized by having no recess on the bottom). These cages were 24" x 24" x 10" (L x W x H). They are easy to spot in the pics because the middle cage in the stack is red. In January 2002, I found out that I had won a National teaching award (I teach high school chemistry). The award included the computer I'm working on, a trip to Costa Rica in November 2002, and a cash prize. At school, I am now frequently asked by students and colleagues, "How did you spend the money?". Answer: I spent it on SNAKES & SNAKE CAGES of course!! Needless to say, I get a lot of quizzical looks. I called Jeff in January 2002 and ordered 10 more cages. While he was building them, I had time to plan the overhaul of my whole set-up. I built two shelves using particle board that keeps the bottom cage in the stack off the floor and gives me storage space for newspaper, shoe boxes, and the like. What did I order you ask? Four of the cages are 48" x 24" x 12" and six are 30" x 24" x 12". All of the cages have Jeff's new expandable end. This allows me to connect the cages and create a 5' cage, a 6.5' cage, and an 8' cage. This provides me with some real flexibility as the animals get larger. Also the four foot cages were made as two pairs that have Jeff's "pass through" feature that enables romantic couples to visit one another with ease. Read on if you are interested in more details......

This is a view of my "snake room" (whoops, don't tell my wife that I called it that). It is actually one corner of the room above the garage which people around here call a "bonus room". It also serves as an office and kid's playroom. Sorry about the quality of the pictures. I have a great camera so I can't use that excuse. It's me....but I'm getting better!

More of a level view (yeah, I know, it looks about the same - overkill).

These are the 30" x 24" x 12" (L x W x H) cages. They are not currently connected but they do have the expandable ends that would allow me to do so. In the top front of the cages, Jeff adds an extra thickness of cage material that allows you to install items such as fluorescent fixtures or anything that would require screws. I chose to light my cages with rope lighting. One 12' rope light snakes its way (no pun intended) through a 3 cage stack. The rope light contains a string of small tungsten bulbs encased in flexible plastic. The entire 12' string has the same energy consumption as a normal 60W incandescent and the bulbs are rated for 25,000 hours. Sound good? How about this - the 12' rope (with hardware for installation) only cost $8.88 at Wal Mart. I connect mine to a dimmer switch so I can control the amount of light (and heat) provided by the rope light. Additional heating is provided by a human heating pad (you can see the control switch hanging inside the cages). More explanation (and better pics) of the heating/lighting system are below.

I turned the room lights off so you could see the rope lighting a bit better.

I built the shelf below the cage stacks out of particle board. I wanted some storage space and I wanted to keep the bottom cage off the floor so it would be easier to access. The shelf is 12" high, 6' wide,  and 2' deep.

These are the 48" x 24" x 12" (L x W x H) cages. They are not currently connected but they do have the expandable ends that would allow me to do so. The shelf is 48" x 24" x 12". The top two cages are currently unoccupied (but not for long!). My adult pair of Guyanans are in the lower cages. Kate is a 6' female  BCCsg and Gus is a 5.5' male BCCsg.

Note:

• BCCsg means Boa Constrictor Constrictor supposedly Guyanan

• BCCss means Boa Constrictor Constrictor supposedly Surinam

• BCCp means Boa Constrictor Constrictor Peruvian

• BCIc means Boa Constrictor Imperator Colombian

These are the original 24" x 24" x 10" (L x W x H) cages that I got from Jeff at the National Show in August 2001. I have one 9' rope light (from a different manufacturer) in this stack. The rope is 3/8" thick. I like the thicker rope light because it tends to lack hot spots. I have measured several spots on this rope that get in the 110-125*F range. The thicker rope has more even heat and is in the range of 85-105.  From top to bottom lives Gabriel (a juvenile female BCCss), Ivory (a white juvenile female BCIc), and Hank (a juvenile male Red Group BCIc from East Bay Vivarium).

With lights off to see the rope lighting effect.

Different angle.

Lights off.

Yet another angle/lighting. My office is in the corner behind the red cage at left.

A closer view of one of the 4 footers with the door open.

This pic was taken looking up from the floor so that you can see where/how the rope lighting is installed in the ceiling of the cage. One 12' rope light is used for a pair of 4' cages. The rope lighting comes with handy plastic anchor clips and screws. The anchors are great but I bought other screws at the hardware store. The screws in the package are too long. I bought size #4 (1/2") wood screws made from zinc (no rust). Do pre-drill a tiny hole - it saves  a lot of labor.

A view of the rope lighting in the 2.5' cages. Here I used one 12' rope light for a 3 cage stack.

Another view of the rope lighting in the 2.5' cages. I drilled 1/2" holes to allow the rope light to pass from one cage to the next. Be careful, some rope lighting is sold in 3/8" inch thickness. Traditionally, rope lighting has been sold such that the consumer could hook lengths of rope together using a supplied connector. Rope light could be hooked together up to a total of 150'. Apparently, some folks managed to shock themselves by trying to assemble their ropes while they were live with power! So in our litigious society that led to, you guessed it, new regulations! From my understanding, a new regulation has been passed that discourages the consumer from expanding the length of their rope by forcing the manufacturer to put a fixed end on the rope. Why am I telling you this? The fixed end is larger than the rope thickness. You would have to drill a large hole to allow the fixed end through and then when you pull the rope through, there would be a gap around the rope and it would be lose in the hole. Probably not a huge deal but my rope fits snugly in every hole as it passes in and out of cages. When I bought my most recent rope lights, there was rope from the same manufacturer in two different containers. One was the old style without the fixed end and one was the new style with the fixed end. I bought every old style rope they had! My rope is made by Globe Electric Company of Montreal, Canada. Here is a picture of the package:

This gives you a better idea of the human heating pad I use. I would highly recommend you get a model made by a company called Kaz. It is very well sealed from moisture and it has FOUR heat settings. I use the lowest setting in most cases. I got mine from Target for $15.99. Here is a pic of the package:

This is a view of the dimmer switches. I really like these because the rope light just plugs into the dimmer cable right at the power strip. You do not have to cut or alter the cable of the rope light. The dimmer switch has its own 6' cord. The manufacturer of the dimmer switch is a company called Lutron and I got them at Home Depot for like $13 apiece. I attached the dimmer switches to the sides of the cage using Velcro squares (gotta use 2 per dimmer). Works great and they are out of sight (don't want kids messing with them). I have inserted pics below from Lutron's web site. Mine do not have the nightlight.

This is a view of Jeff's pass through feature which I have on the two pairs of 4 foot cages.

This is a view of an "expandable end". I don't have any of mine connected right now, but I did try it before stacking my cages. Jeff supplies the hardware and I was most impressed with the ease and functionality of it. You can see the holes for the 4 bolts. The removable panel attaches on the inside with 2 screws. I was concerned about animal waste possible getting trapped at the bottom between the panel and outside edge of the cage so I used clear silicone to seal the gap on the inside. When I do expand the cage, I just have to pull up the silicone, take out 2 screws, take out the removable panel and bolt the two cages together.

This is my "climbing tree". It was actually a home IV station. I got a bad infection last year and had to roll this around the house while IV antibiotics dripped into my body. No it wasn't from the snakes. It's a long story and the bottom line is that I lived (...I think there a few people out there that still regret that). Rather than throw this away (I'm sure it cost my insurance company $5,000), I cut some PVC pipe and duct taped them on as "branches". The boas love exercising on this.

This is my desk-sized climbing tree. I built it from simple materials and it sits on my desk so that I can watch the animals while I work.

This is a homemade cage. The front panels are glass and the top is plexiglass. It is about 54' x 30' x 30". My adult female Jim Peters Type A BCIc  currently lives in here.

From the top. You can see the shelf in the upper right corner.

The black pieces actually house dome lights. One has an incandescent bulb for daytime. One holds a night-time black bulb. Both are on separate dimmers. I found the black pieces at Home Depot. I think they were sold to create drainage systems. I love them because the boas can actually climb on these without gaining access to the hot dome or the wires. The "water dish" is an old container that came with an ice maker.

A romantic setting for animals, agree?

Because the ceiling is sloped on the sides of the room, I can't lift the top to a completely open position. I had to construct a short length of bungee cord that keeps the top from falling and cutting my head off.

A different view.

Another view.

Last view. Show's over. I hope you like it. I'm thrilled with it so far. I think the setup is finally worthy of my animals and it certainly has made my job easier in caring for them. Now I can spend more time watching them and handling them.

Well, I changed my mind and dug up a few old pics. You deserve it if you made it all the way down this loooooooong page. Briana and Jasmine get a little fresh air and exercise.

Ivory.

Briana on the climbing tree.

Jasmin - coming down to visit me.