DOORS - and a poll to help all.

BOAS_N_PYTHONS · 10-27-04, 11:20 PM

Hi there folks:

I decided to start thos post and poll to figure out what everyone uses and prefers.

Simply image your normal looking cage "wood built or bought plastic" with either a sliding or hinged in place "glass or plastic" door system.

Basically the main question is what do you use, prefer and why.

1. Do you have sliding doors on a track system where its a 2 piece system with 1 glass piece over lapping the other to secure your snakes in there cages?

2. Do you have a full door system on hinges, where the door opens by lowering or lifting it in 1 direction?

I myself use sliding doors but have been thinking 1 piece lowered doors would be a better method. Basically I notice some of my boas checking out the space between both glass pieces. There is no hard and no major concern with the design or the boas, but I always think especially with strikers that if they hit with teeth, jaws, face into this un-smooth edge that this may harm them compared to 1 piece door systems.

So I' m hoping everyone can contribute to this thread with useful information on this topic.

Below are my own design cages I built a few years back.

Thank you for ready, and adding some contribution to this topic.

Cya...

Tony

Tim_Cranwill · 10-27-04, 11:55 PM

1 piece, swing down doors... but I only have 2 custom enclosures at the moment.

Invictus · 10-28-04, 12:16 AM

I use sliding at the moment. Once I get a router I'm switching to hinged doors for sure.

MouseKilla · 10-28-04, 08:20 AM

Man, those are some sweet looking cages! I am simply incapable of such things, as my latest cage clearly shows. lol! It's not pretty but it was easy.

I tried the sliding doors thing once and well... I don't want to talk about it but lets just say it resulted in some emergency midnight carpentry that resulted in that cage having a drop down door in the end also.

vanderkm · 10-28-04, 09:12 AM

Our few custom enclosures use hinged doors that lift up to open - each door hooks to the cage above it to hold it up when it is open. We like this system because it leaves the full front of the cage open - easier to manipulate large hondurans and easier to clean. Have been considering going to sliding doors if purchasing some custom cages,

mary v.

GORDO · 10-28-04, 09:28 AM

I use the hinged single flip up door system myself.I find it gives you better access to the cage,and when it comes time to clean you don't have the door in your way.I haven't had a snake get out yet,and none of yhem have been harmed useing this system.

Gord L.

Edwin · 10-28-04, 09:56 AM

I prefer sliding glass myself. It is more space efficient, as there are no doors to swing out, which may catch on something. Depending on the depth of the cage, with the door on the floor, it is hindrance during cleaning. I also have a concern with the door hinges on the bottom; I would be worried that I may accidentally pinch my snakes when opening or closing. Also the door system doesnt really promote stacking.

The benefits of the door system that I can think of is that you have full access to the cage, but this can be easily duplicated by simply removing the sliding glass. Another benefit is that there is no track for substrate and poo to get caught in.

For me, I think the choice of method would boil down to the type of caging. For bigger caging or stackable cages, I would definitely go for sliding glass, but I can see the benefits of using the door for narrow, tall cages using sliding glass would not make sense.

Just my thoughts.

Linds · 10-28-04, 10:59 AM

I use double drop down down doors (with dual barrel-bolt locks) on most of my cages. I like the safety of being able to keep one side of the cage closed, instead of opening the whole front, especially for feeding.

I don't like sliding doors. Sometimes they 'stick' in the tracks when they try to open, and I've had some bad experiences with the tracks coming loose before. I was unable to silicone them back in place either, as I had a gravid boa inside that couldn't be moved. I just don't trust that type of security with larger animals. The last thing I need is something getting out and eating my cat

Below is a pic of 4 of my 4' cages stacked.
<img src="http://www.ssnakess.com/photopost/data/504/22cages-finished.jpg">

Edwin,
Curious as to why you say they don't promote stacking? Everything I have is stacked along aisles in my room, quite tightly I might add (actually I had to stand outside my room to take the pic above, and the aisle behind I usually shimmy sideways down). In fact, I remember a major problem with larger vision cages was when they were stacked, the weight eventually caused the slightest (invisible to the eye) bows in the caging and the sliding doors wouldn't open. This can easily happen with any large, stacked cages, since wood does change slightly over time.

joey · 10-28-04, 11:28 AM

Very impressive set-ups.

Tony-- Very nice work. Your enclosures are beautiful!

Linds--I really like your housing too. Were they easy/difficult to build? hmmm...you guys are making my head spin with ideas.

Thank you again for such excellent information!

CHRISANDBOIDS14 · 10-28-04, 11:37 AM

I prefer 1 piece doors for all the afformentioned reasons, also, when dealing with bloods and most large boids, you have better access and maneuverability with a big entrance. With sliding glass, normally there is half of the entrance covered, and you have a smaller access area. Just my thoughts.

C.

Linds · 10-28-04, 04:13 PM

Joey,
They were quite simple to build, and worked out to cost around $85 CDN each

blackmatch · 10-28-04, 11:00 PM

For this cage i feel that a door would be to big and awkward ( top is 78x24x24)so i used sliding glass. Stuff gets in the tracks but i never find it makes a problem with the doors opening. I like the sliding glass but when i make more cages i will go with full door for instant full access of cleaning and maintenance.

Stav.T · 10-29-04, 12:23 AM

My point of view.....

I've had both types and both types are good it all depends on your own taste.

I use sliding doors for 2 reasons :

1) when i feed a 8 foot hungry and fast boa in a cage that the door opens right in my face I prefer having a sliding door. That way i can open one side and stick the roden in the cage with tongues on the other side. I had some really awfull close calls with some fast & crazy boas.

2) with full doors you expose yourself much more than sliding doors ( only my taste....) I dont like it when the door of the cage opens and hits the other glass door of the cage below. I broke a cpl doors like that way with some nasty boas. This shouldent happen with plexiglass doors thought. ( i never had plexiglass doors )

Both ways are great. Again its only a matter of taste.

Stav

Jeff_Favelle · 10-29-04, 01:20 AM

I'm with Stav. I have a few dozen of both kinds in use.

spiderlovebites · 10-29-04, 10:08 AM

This thread is really helpful, and I think it should be made into a sticky. Its nice to see all the different cages so that a newbie like me can see what works and what doesn't. I don't have any snakes yet, but when I do have them I'm glad to see what all is available and what works.