Making a large snake cage in a basement
Question
Hi, do you have any plans on constructing a reptile cage that is part of a room or room size enclosure? I have an 11 ½ ft. female reticulated python and I would like to make part of my basement her cage. We look forward to your reply. Thank you.
Answer
That's a pretty big snake who's only going to get bigger. The answer is not really, although the principles remain the same. Heating can be via basking lights or using heat mats. I would probably make a false floor, depending on the the basement floor material, as a concrete floor will pull a lot of heat from a heat mat, should you choose to use those. The upside of a concrete floor is that once the heat mat has warmed the area up it will retain it's heat for quite a while. It also depends on where you live as a cement floor will become very cold in winter. A false floor will have an insulating layer of air (or even insulation) between it and the basement floor, reducing the output of the heat mat.
I would probably construct all of the walls out of timber, with a layer of air or insulation between these and the basement walls, to make the cage more efficient to heat and maintain at a temperature. You can use the basement structure to provide the cage dimensions and build out walls from that structure. Again the principles would be the same as the cages plans for the front of the cage to provide strength for the doors to be attached.
The cage will probably need to be 9-10ft wide and probably up tp 12-15ft as the python can potentially get to 18+ft. You don't need a lot of height but I think you probably want to have enough to get into the cage, as it will need to be 4-6ft deep I would imagine.
It's hard to determine your answer as you can construct a stand alone cage that is very large using the same principles but with some wider timber at the front and top to maintain the structural integrity and probably some internal timber struts inside, under the top of the cage. You would also have two doors at the front and probably a vertical section in the middle to provide extra strength in the centre of the cage. This verical section could be two struts with a glass or perspex middle to provide continuous viewing. I would also make it higher than a normal cage (3-4ft) so you can get into the back of it. The door materials would have to be quite thick if they were Plexiglass or you could use the same doors I use on the plans, but with a heavier timber for the frame. You will also need to use the thicker ply or MDF. The floor could still be melamine but you will have to have it rest on number of pieces of timber as I image the snake is quite heavy and will get heavier. Should you want to use castors, you would need quite a few and have these attached to several pieces of timber to provide strength to the floor.
I hope some of these ideas have helped.
Mark Chapple is the Author of "How to build enclosures
for reptiles"
Find out how to build these cages as well as arboreal cages. Full color pictures,
detailed diagrams and easy to follow, step-by-step instructions.
http://www.reptile-cage-plans.com
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