Great cage for a great snake

[burnham187]

I am currently looking for a large cage for my baby female Anaconda. She is just a baby and 3' long but everyone knows she will get extremely large. Although I dont have to get something extremely large yet I would still like to get something that would last her for the years to come. I am looking at getting at least a 180 gallon glass tank for her to have plenty of room to roam in. I have searched for many sites and have found mostly complete setups that are made for fish which of course brings the price up. Of course I dont need all of that extra stuff. I know that my best bet would to build her one but am not able to at the place that I am at now, not one as large as I want that is. Is $300 good for a 180 gallon "72x"24"24?? Thanks for the help ahead of time.

[Zoe]

Is she a yellow or green conda?

Zoe

[burnham187]

She is a Green Anaconda.

[Lisa]

that gives you 12 square feet, which byt the rule of thumb should last you for a while. as for the price, is that a new or used tank? if it's new i figure it's worth the price, considering our 50G front opening tanks were 150CND. another nice thing with a tank like that is it's strong enough to go on it's side so you can convert it to a front opening tank (like myself and another person on this site have done). hope this helps.

[burnham187]

Just out of Curiousity what is the advantage of turning it into a front opening tank? The reason I ask is because I plan on making at least 1/3 of the cage water for her to be able to soak in. I want to actually use the cage for that and not a waterbowl. That is the price of a New tank actually. It comes with a screen top.

[zouleous]

Well, for one thing you lose a lot of moisture out of the top of a cage if you have a screen top. An anaconda will certainly need a bit of humidity. Heat is also lost of course..though that may not be an issue depending on where you live and how warm you keep your house. I believe it's also a bit easier to get larger snakes in and out of a front opening cage as well.

Z

[The_Snake_King]

It is not really a good idea to house a large snake in a fish tank. Small "giant"snakes are ok, but once they reach a certain length, it is better to move them to a cage with the door that opens in the front. One reason is trying to lift a 9 foot conda out of a 180 tank is not a one person job. Another is large tanks are difficult to clean. Changing the substrate and water (if ou have 1/3 the tank coverted to hold water) is going to be a chore that has to be done regularly. Not an easy task. Your best bet is a 55 gal until the snake outgrows it, then move onto either a large store bought or custom made cage. Most pepole who own these giant snakes, usually custom make their own cages. This way you can decide how big you want it, plus it will save you some money.

[burnham187]

What I am going to do is get A 180 Gallon for a good price and use that till it outgrows that cage. Once that happens I will then make a suitable cage that she will be able to comfortabley live in. I agree that its not going to be easy to keep a cage that size clean but I will most likely do what Lisa mentioned and use the 180 Gallon as a front opening cage so it will be easier to take her out. That is a good idea converting it like that. Thanks for the advice everyone.

[rethius]

How do you change a 90 gal aquarium into a front opening cage?
it is 4'Lx18''Wx2'T