PVC snake enclosures. What do you use?

[rachmangler]

Hey guys!

So I have a few snakes in generic glass enclosures with sliding/locking lids. I hate being able to see my heat lamps & having to do maintenance through the top of the tank so I am looking to get some pvc enclosures.

I am looking for something stack-able and something that comes in black. Ideally with sliding fronts...but if not it isn't too big of a deal.

What does everyone else use? Could you shoot me contact info & a website for recommendations?

I was also wondering how everyone heats their enclosures? Do you just use heat pads? I live in Portland, OR and it stays pretty chilly here so I need something that can accommodate to 65 degree room temps.

Does anyone use boaphile and have any of you made a purchase with them lately? I emailed them and ideally would love to order a few of their enclosures but I still havent received any word yet from them and feel awkward about throwing down 500-600 dollars on something to have to wait over a year for it.

[nick654377]

look at animal plastics. they have amazing cages and racks from what i hear. im currently waiting on my cage from them. 8 week wait. they price is awsome and customer service is amazing!

Animal Plastics (http://www.apcages.com)

[Jendee]

pvc cages sag over time sliding doors will get jammed as this happens. I have prolines and boaphiles, I prefer the boaphiles. they are heated and bent for comes so there are no leaking issues and I've had zero escapes from them. the prolines have leaked boa birth goo (Yiks) the tabs used to keep the door closed have pipes off with pressure from a 6 ft boa I've had the pralines for 7 yrs now and they are still useable

[Jendee]

and reading ur OP again, I use flex watt to heat all my cages it's about 3$ a piece. and if you want blowholes it's better to call him Jeff is bad about getting back to ppl =( but his cages are best for the money imo

[Little Wise Owl]

I have my Royals in PVC and I'm becoming unimpressed with them. They're warping around the middle (4'x2') and jamming/cracking the doors. Mine don't seem to hold humidity or heat that well either. I would love a more sturdy plastic enclosure.

[alessia55]

I have 2 Boaphile cages, and I love them. I've heard the locks can rust, but that hasn't happened with mine. I've only had them for about 10 months. They look great and hold humidity wonderfully for my BPs. They arrived in one piece and required no assembling, which was a plus for me. I ordered them with the flexwatt and lighting built in. All I had to do was set up the thermostats, which I also bought from Boaphile. Overall, really happy so far with them.

[reptileexperts]

Jim over at www.pvccages.com he's not really a very friendly guy in a lot of aspects, has a history with the industry that is less than ideal, but he does make good cages and can provide you with the quickest turnaround time in comparison to any of the other companies out there. My second choice would be Animal Plastics. They come highly rec across the board, the guy who makes things happen is always ace on about getting emails and such answered, and prices are competitive. There are many modles that are ready to ship (I believe the 4x2x1 is one of these). They come in black and you can get them pre-set with options.

For heating flexx watt will NOT work for your room conditions on its own. I would highly rec a Radiant heat panel from Reptile Basics Inc (http://www.reptilebasics.com) or just have your cage shipped with these ready to go (Jim uses RBI RHP). Since your room falls to 65, you may also want to strongly consider making sure you get the next step up RHP and go ahead and add an ultra therm belly heater as well. Power both of them linked to the same thermostat (or two separate if you want to be extremely controlling) and you're good to go. In example for heat panels - For you, I'd get a 65-80 watt RHP with a 4x2x1 cage, and a 120 watt for a 6x3x2 if you are needing something for a giant (you did not specify here - this is important since few companies make these giant cages - but AP does!).

Boaphile has had a lot of quality control issues lately according to Fauana Classifieds BOI on them. I have friends that swear by these cages though, and I do enjoy there solid one piece heat weilded construction more so than AP and Jims "some assembly required" cages. While it's not difficult, you MUST seal the cages after you assemble if you want thme to be 100% water tight for spills and "goo". Boaphile comes shipped assembled and ready to go.

You can also consider Vision - these are known for sagging over time as mentioned above about PVC cages in general. Most companies though do use thicker PVC now to reduce the sagging that they have been known for and that visions are still known for. Depending on the species you are working with, sliding glass vs hinged may be a little bit bigger deal - for larger fast species you'd want slighting for the benefit of not having to open the cage all the way. For stuff like Royal Pythons, hinged does just fine. For some Boa's depending on their feeding aggression you can get by with either IMO.

I personally own a full wall of PVC cages from Jim, but my next wall for my retics will be coming from Vision. Tried and True . . .

Just my two cents.

[Corey209]

Look up proline they use high quality hpde

[reptileexperts]

Note* Jim's site seems to be having issues... May be his web host.

[rmfsnakes32]

I like monster cages. Have one boaphile sucks with heat and humidity. Then of course my racks are animal plastics which makes great enclosures wait time is a little long but worth it!

[Theweinz]

I have been very satisfied with my four Boaphile cages. Like the solid stacking option, strong one piece constructions and the door with excellent hinges. I do not know where I want to get my first rack from however. Reptile basics look good.
JW

[rachmangler]

It seems like the bulk of you that responded seem to go with Boaphile. I think I'm gonna try and actually get ahold of someone there to try to order a few. I have a warm room that gets no lower than about 75 degrees..any heat recommendations?

[Corey209]

Constrictors Northwest (http://www.constrictorsnw.com/cagessupply/plmodularcages.html)

Proline uses HPDE with I honestly think is much more reliable then PVC and ABS.