Help Ryu get a perch!

[Ryodraco]

Hi all, been around five years since I've last posted. Time certainly flies. I am hoping for some advice/help for the situation I've found myself in.


Ryu is a centralian carpet python, now about 10 or 11 years old. He was already 4 and a half when I got him, and the large parrot perch I installed in his terrarium sufficed for years as a decent perch for him. He'd spend days at a time up there. However, it became clear over time that he was having more and more trouble fitting on it, and thus using it less and less. He's over 8 feet long at this point after all.


So I ended up removing the perch and began searching for a upgrade. Trouble is that I have yet to find anything that works. I brought a huge cork log that I placed the wood rod the terrarium came with through as a sort of stabilizer, however as they are both circular if Ryu tries to climb onto the log his weight causes it to shift and even turn to the point of throwing him off. All my attempts to brace it with cage furniture haven't worked as Ryu is just too strong and heavy for them to hold.



So why not just get a large version of the perch he had before? That's proven more difficult than expected. The store I brought the perch from years ago no longer carried anything that size, let alone larger, and indeed finding bird perches with multiple branches that are bigger than what I have but still small enough to fit in the terrarium is apparently a tall order.



And no matter what I get, making it secure/stable has proven to the most stressful part. I worry about him being too close to the UVB light I now use, so I drilled a hole lower down to reposition his original perch. However, in this lower state I could no longer rest the perch on top of the wooden rod that terrarium came with, and subsequently found out that this rod was what had held up the perch under Ryu's weight all those years. Without it's support the branch rotates down under Ryu's weight no matter how much I tighten the nut on the screw.



Keep in mind I have very little in the way of construction skills (I brought the enclosure on craigslist). I'm really hoping to avoid drilling more and potentially damaging the terrarium (though I realize that I may well have to). One idea I have had is to buy a couple of these, put them side by side and use them as a shelf: https://www.amazon.com/Trixie-Natura...SMKED4KB4BRCC4 However, I am concerned that a snake of Ryu's size will simply move them around too much for them to be useful.


I know keepers make wonderful shelves and perches for their snakes all the time, but I am at a loss as to how to do it right for this snake in this enclosure. I just want Ryu to be able to use more of the space in the terrarium.


Many thanks for any advice.