Ok, painted. But........

[Jeff_Favelle]

Ran out of damn silicone!! Getting some more from Crappy Tire tomorrow.

Male Jungle cage on the bottom. I'll get better pics on Sunday.

[gunnerslakeshor]

Jeff
Your cages are looking good , Is that damn silicone in the white tube or the red tube.lol
Looking forward to seeing the finished product.
Phil

[Jeff_Favelle]

Was that some sort of lewd comment? Heh heh, well I better leave it alone!


Thanks man. I can't wait to get the Rainbows in them. It'll be so much easier than the current set-up.

[GYMRAT2B]

Wow!!! That's a nice set of cages you've made, Jeff!!!

What material(s) did you use and can it be made in black?

Also, you said you're using these for rainbows. How will it hold up to the humidity needs of BRB's? I went to a small IRBA show in Pomona (just outside of Los Angeles) 2 weeks ago and I met a dealer who was going to sell me a 1.2 trio (all adults) for $800 and they were willing to deal. They all seem too orange to me though, not much red, but supposedly perfect crescents. I passed on it at that time, but do you think $800 is worth it?

:cool:

[Linds]

Orange rainbows are just as sought after as red, its the brilliance that matters. A dull red is as good as a dull orange, but a bright orange is just as good as a bright red :D It's all a matter of preference then. Even most of the brilliantly coloured brb's still lack the nice full crescents :( Were the 1.2 proven breeders? Related? Hard to tell without more info or seeing the actual colours/crescents, but sounds like they were a fair price............

[GYMRAT2B]

oic....

Okay, so the RED is what I should buy.

I thought the lady said Orange is the best they come in. There was a guy I also saw at a different Herp show and he said they're mainly Orange or brown. I KNEW I saw them come in RED !!!

So what's the going price for REDS? Not that I'm saying the orange is inferior, this is just my preference. Of course, I would probably get into breeding them later, but I would love to use them in my photo shoots and I can rent them out to a producer friend of mine whenever she does commercials and such. The ball pythons I've used for pictures were gorgeous, I'm sure the BRB's would be stunning!!

[Linds]

There are many things factored into the price. Colour, age, breeding history, health, etc. A nice orange is worth as much as a nice red. They do seem to go for slightly more in the US than in Canada. You live in the states so you can expect to pay $350-$550 US each on average (nice, adult specimens).

[Jeff_Favelle]

You see, the thing with Rainbows is, the oranges and reds and browns are not morphs. The colors may be inheritable, but not like a simple gene like say, albinism. Therefore, even breeding 2 "oranges" together won't necessarily produce all orange babies. But $800US for 3 adult Rainbows isn't too bad. That's $1200 CDN (roughly) so that's $400 per adult. If you have 1 small litter of 15 babies and wholesale them for $150 each, then that's a profit of like a grand! So it is worth it, provided you're on your game and you breed them. Then again, if they are nice animals and you derive a ton of pleasure just owning them and not even breeding them, maybe its still worth it! Anyways, regarding color, there are no real "morphs" of Rainbows yet. There are anerythristics, calicos, and hypos, but that's about it. There are striped, but its not proven genetic yet. But keep yer eyes peeled. There should be a ton of morphs coming soon.

[GYMRAT2B]

Thanks for all the info guys!!

As I said in the earlier post, now that you all have confirmed that red is as common as orange, I'd definitely wait until I find a red one. So far, I've only seen red ones in forums.

But back to the subject of this thread, what materials were used to make this cage and is it enough to hold the humidity requirements of BRB's? How long with this humidity will the cage last before another is needed to be made? If my cages are melamine and I keep a plastic box inside it so that the animal can choose to cool out in the open or stay in the humid box, will that suffice? For now, I'm only looking to have them as pets. I have enough going on with figuring out bloodlines of my ball pythons and figuring out which ones I want to breed in the future.

[Jeff_Favelle]

Ha ha, I'm trying to post a pic man, but my camera's batteries are toast!! Just a sec...

[Jeff_Favelle]

Yeah, the cages hold the humidity. I built a frame out of 1x2 fir and then used 5/8" plywood to cover the frame. I painted the frame with aquatapoxy (2 part epoxy paint) and the rest of the inside with marine enamel. The outside is just acrylic to prevent the wood from warping (always paint both sides!!). Plastic tracking, and glass and screen for the vents were the other materials. The cages can totally stand up to the humidity (marine enamel kicks a$$!!). I'm certainly not making 18 more cages in 3 years!! These cages better last forever!! Ha ha!


As for your Rainbows, well adults certainly don't need as much humidity to survive (read: stay alive), but how much is required to be "happy"? Well people keep and breed them in 50% humidity and people keep and breed them in 90% humidity. Who's to say who's right? Certainly not me. I like my cages to be damp, with condensation on the glass. I provide a DRY hide box (exact opposite of what you're going to do) so the snakes can get out of the dampness. Keep 'em warm though, or you're asking for trouble. But yeah, I think a semi-dry cage with a 26.4L Rubbermaid, filled with damp sphagnum, should work great. I don't see why not. Just make sure to not put the hide box on the warm end of the cage. Think of the wild. How does a tropical snake get even warmer when it wants to? It basks on a rock or other sun-warmed object. How does it get cool? It goes underground or in the water. Moral being: Don't make the hide box the warm place to be!! Or better yet, have a hide box on the warm end AND the cool end! Let the snake choose, 'cause they know better than you or I combined.

[Jeff_Favelle]

And there is no probs. I expect them to last forever.

[GYMRAT2B]

By the way...how much did you pay for the glass front?

My buddy's making my cages for me and he said he was being charged $42 (US) per piece. This doesn't sound right to me for some reason.

[Jeff_Favelle]

The glass was free!! "Scrap" glass can be found anywhere. As most homes are going to vinyl-framed windows, the old aluminum ones are being discarded, glass-and-all. So I just go and get the glass from any place that has these scrap windows and take the aluminum frames off (they want them back because aluminum is super-valuable). Then, I cut the glass to whatever size I want. Actually, the most expensive part of the cage is the plastic tracking! But yeah, scrap glass can be found everywhere. I use 3/8, 1/4 or 1/2 inch. Works great and its easy to cut with a glass cutter.

Jeff Favelle

[Jeff_Favelle]

They work great! Cheap too. This one has 6 "blades" on it and it only cost $6!!! Just make sure to use a little oil when you cut. Makes a better cut and prolongs the life of the "blades".

[AzR@k]

how much was the melamine?

[GYMRAT2B]

Here in the US the melamine was $25 for 3 sheets. The set of glass with metal tracks/balls were $30 per set.

[Ian]

I don't believe that is melamine. Looks like 5/8 plywood to me.