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gaboon cage design
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by ianb on December 18, 2007
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I want to build a bigger cage for my 4 ft Gaboon viper. I was wondering if any one had suggestions on the design. I will mention a couple points of concern/interest.
-Its going in a spare bedroom with plenty of room.
-It needs to fit through a standard size door.
-Should I have entrance from the top and have it sit on the floor(or have a low base to the floor but have wheels for easy monement) or should I be well above ground with a door in front.
-I also think a divider would be great for cleaning, safety, breeding, and housing multiple snakes(any ideas?).
-I have also thought about a corner unit unless its too complicated.
-My carpentry skills are not much above basic, but I have a more experienced friend helping. Thanks for any suggestions or plans in advance.
-oh, and I also though framed glass would be nice in the front and for building materials, it seemed Melamine or MDF would be nice.
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RE: gaboon cage design
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by SerpenXotics on December 18, 2007
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I strongly recomend a front opening type enclosure for all gaboons. reason being gaboons are as you know a heavy bodied snake. especially at 4' plus,they are almost impossibly to safely handle for them anyway (1/2" metal rod + 10-15lbs gaboon= broken ribs)unless you have a snow shovel the reason I use a front open cage is you can gently slide them out of the cage and into a shift box for cage cleaning also if you have to pick them up I use the mid west python hook two of them work great on a big gabby sorry if this got a little off topic and long winded
word
Joe
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RE: gaboon cage design
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by ianb on December 19, 2007
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Thanks Joe,
I do have one mid west python hook I use along with a regular hook. Its still extremely difficult at times due to her size, especially if she's in one of her not so cooperative moods.
I see what you mean about the front entrance, but I was also thinking that by somehow building a removable divider(possibly flexiglass) either inserted from the top or the back, I could eliminate the need to have to remove her every time cleaned the cage. I could just shift her to the other side.
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RE: gaboon cage design
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by SerpenXotics on December 19, 2007
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true but there are going to be times when you have to get her out completely depending on how deep you make the enclosure it could get difficult not to mention you can stack other cages on top of the front opening
cages just my opinion
Joe
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RE: gaboon cage design
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by Cro on December 19, 2007
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Ian, Joe is right about a front opening cage.
You could cut grooves in the wood and use sliding plate glass or plexiglass very easily.
One reason for this is that anytime you have a top opening cage, you will be approaching the snake from ABOVE. What direction do predators approach snakes from ? From Above ! This will cause undue stress on the animal, and often create a threat response. If you approach the snake on his level, he will be far less stressed.
You could consider building the cage up off the floor with the bottom of the cage at about your waste level. That will allow you to easily remove the snake with two stout snake hooks if needed. You could also rig up a smaller front opening cage on a rolling cart that has the exact bottom height as the big cage. Then when you need to remove the Gaboon from the cage, you will only have to coax him to crawl from the larger cage into the smaller one, then close the door. That way you do not have to lift him hardly at all.
Also, your idea about some sort of devider might work if it was designed correctly. You could make a guillotine type door that could be inserted from the top of the cage through a slot that would allow you to trap the snake on one side of the cage. Take some pics of what you finally wind up building and post a link here for us to see them.
Best Regards JohnZ
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