OMG and Warning to all with AP cages!! EEEK!

So this is a warning to all AP stack cage owners.

Lauren just about pissed her pants just now. She was in the basement cleaning the mouse litter when she noticed what looked like a snake on the back of the shelf....then it whipped it's head around and Scurved in all it's evil Glory. It was Selena!

In all her evil splender. Lauren screamed for me and I raced down to find Laur trying to wrangle her with a towel as she struck and hissed all 3 feet of her scary scales into kill mode.
But this made no sense...the AP cages are escape proof if the door is shut right? It was locked...shut tight!

But, I moved Selena the evil boa to the top cage in hopes that she would be calmer with eating by not seeing us....WRONG! She managed to pull the light off the ceiling (it's not a heat light just a florecent bulb so we can see her) and squeeze her fat self out of the hole the plug fits in. This would not have mattered if I had left her in the middle of the stack...

The scary part is...these cages are supposed to be foolproof. People use them for hots. Jesus...it could have killed one of us had it been something more sinister than even the evil boa.

So this is an all call to those with stack cages that those lights can be popped out and the snakes can get free. We put my too fat to possibly fit ball python up in that cage again, and are just warning others to beware.

Have you called AP yet?

I told you to get Reptile Basics racks a few months back. Just kidding, but I did. I am glad you two are ok and the snake is back home safe and sound.

those mice were in for it. they didnt even know it. lol.

i really recommend boaphile plastics. love them. really just great all around cages and great customer service. i dont think ive ever heard a complaint about them. something to look into in future cage buying i guess. glad she came home alright.

We did look at Boaphile cages, but were a little put off by the time frame. That seems to be the only complaint (he's slow) and AP got better results in that field. We ended up having major issues with them anyway... I do like the cages and am really shocked that this happened... also incredibly glad that it happened tonight, when I was working in the herp room for hours on end and not working on school work up here! It would really have sucked to have had to go hunting for the angry boa up in the ceiling tiles!! :eek1:

yeah. the only reason its slower to get a boaphile is he builds all of them to order. so thats the reason there. i love em though. that would suck having to try getting her out of the ceiling. glad you found her when you did. shes a looker.

pwargcm said:

yeah. the only reason its slower to get a boaphile is he builds all of them to order. so thats the reason there. i love em though. that would suck having to try getting her out of the ceiling. glad you found her when you did. shes a looker.

Click to expand...

That photo is several months old, too... she's VERY salmon-colored now, completely gorgeous. Even while I was pissing myself as she snapped in my face, I was still oohing and ahhing over her colors! Ha!

It certainly is fortunate that you were there right at that time. We all know how CRAZY it can get looking for an escapee.

Don't know anything about AP yet, but I definitely think they should know. Thanks for the warning!

then post more pictures of her! I can't get enough of hogs. I'm glad you found her!

Lauren,
Now If I got the caging with out the lights would I be safe??

tricksterpup said:

Lauren,
Now If I got the caging with out the lights would I be safe??

Click to expand...

Not Lauren...but yes it would be fine. But unless you have them in a well lit room the snake would be very dark all day. Not that they would probably mind...but I like to see them anyway!

I've known the AP guys since they had their first shop in Des Moines called Doc's (bought my first BP from them when I was 8!) and they're a great group of guys. I'm sure they'd want to know what happened and would probably do as much as they could to help you out. That's just my experience with them and I hope the best for you. I'm glad your beautiful little boa there didn't get out and take off! That would've been a hard loss oke:

Selene is a pissy Hogg Isle? Really?
Hmmm... I know most of them as docile little critters.

Oh well, she is gorgeous, I am glad to hear she is all well... and I agree- new pics plz!

Oren-- yes, she is completely aggressive, a real nut job 90% of the time. I understand this to be an unusual trait in them... certainly Leondard, her future boy toy, is not this way.

I am not sure anything needs to be done to fix ours, and we're definitely not going to pull them down to fix them (getting them up was a real pain in the arse!!) but what one COULD do is take some mesh screening and screw it down around the cord. That should keep all but the tiniest snakes in. I imagine you may also be able to simply silicone the light to the ceiling to prevent big snakes from muscling it off its pegs. Don't know if that would be advisable, though, due to having to replace the lights when they blow.