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Please recommend good enclosures

dcrocker

New member
My son has a 2.5 yr old corn in a 30x12x12 glass aquarium-type enclosure with a sliding screen top. The snake is now probably more that 3ft long now so it seems this space is getting a bit small for him.

Right now, we have the enclosure sitting on top of a little table in my son's room. We have two overhead heat sources (one heat lamp which we use all year around and one ceramic heat source which we use in the winter). Since the enclosure itself has nothing to attach the heat lamps to, they are clamped onto a bookshelf that happens to be sitting next to the table. This works ok but sometimes the clamps slip and the lamps wiggle around. In addition, since the enclosure is just on a table, there's no place to store supplies so they end up getting shoved into a closet and lost.

I was looking at bigger enclosures of the same style, and found that 36x18 and 48x18 were pretty common. The 36" wide one seems a little small and the 48" one seems too long and skinny. I suppose this might be ok. But, the issue remains that there would be no convenient place to attach the overhead heat sources. There's also the issue of storage which I suppose could be solved by buying a cabinet which the enclosure sits upon.

It seems like the problems I'm trying to solve should be fairly common. I'd be very much interested in a pre-built enclosure which has places for heat sources to be attached and has a cabinet under it for storage. As this is for my 12 year old (and is not a piece of furniture in the common area of the house), I don't want something too fancy or expensive (e.g. nice oak cabinets). I'm looking for functional and flexible, not necessarily pretty.

I would appreciate any suggestions (esp. online sources of enclosures). Unless I get any better ideas, I would probably:
-buy a 48x18 glass enclosure
-put it on top of a cabinet
-find some sort of floor stand for the lamps (I could use suggestions for finding this too)

But, I'd rather have something better.

Thanks,
Dan
 
I am not sure of the measurements, but right now my 2 year old corn is in a 20 Gal. Long.

For Christmas I am asking for a 40 Gal. Breeder, which is longer and wider. It should be good for the life of the snake.

A 55 gal. is probably the optimal size. I like the 40 Breeder because it gives more width than standard aquariums, even the 55.

If you have the space and around $180, a 75 Gallon would be luxurious.

Keep in mind that most care sheets state that a 20 Long is sufficient for an adult Corn.
 
you can get a hood that will attach to the aquarium. i have an enclosure like the one you described, but it's for my turtles. it has a sliding screen top. i purchased a combo light hood from drs. foster and smith. it has 3 lights, one for the flourescent UVB bulb, one for the night light, and one for the day basking light. and each light has it's own on/off switch. the light fixture can even hold a ceramic heat lamp. and it's got a reflective inside, so the heat is reflected down into the aquarium. you might only need the combo light with two fixtures, one for the day basking bulb and one for the ceramic heat bulb. and the screen top can easily be slid on and off without having to move the light hood.
http://www.drsfostersmith.com/Product/Prod_Display.cfm?pcatid=6189&inm=1&N=2006+113030+113567
 
Doug Barr makes awesome cages at a great price. His customer service is top notch also. He sells a 36x24x12 cage for $135 that is perfect for a adult corn.
http://www.herpcages.com/cages/cprice2.html

We keep all of our cornsnakes in rack systems and Iris or Sterilite containers but for a pet on display his cages are great. Also a boaphile cage 421D is also a awesome cage for $199 delivered. It may be overkill but would be more than adequate for the rest of its life. My snakes seem to do well in black enclosures.
http://www.boaphileplastics.com/cages.html

You cannot go wrong with either cage. We personally do not keep snakes in aquariums but we have over 100 snakes, so room is a issue. If you want to make a trip to Arizona I will give you a 60 gallon long terrarium :sidestep:
 
Thanks. I will keep this in mind if I go with the aquarium approach.

Dan

Tyger9791 said:
you can get a hood that will attach to the aquarium. i have an enclosure like the one you described, but it's for my turtles. it has a sliding screen top. i purchased a combo light hood from drs. foster and smith. it has 3 lights, one for the flourescent UVB bulb, one for the night light, and one for the day basking light. and each light has it's own on/off switch. the light fixture can even hold a ceramic heat lamp. and it's got a reflective inside, so the heat is reflected down into the aquarium. you might only need the combo light with two fixtures, one for the day basking bulb and one for the ceramic heat bulb. and the screen top can easily be slid on and off without having to move the light hood.
http://www.drsfostersmith.com/Product/Prod_Display.cfm?pcatid=6189&inm=1&N=2006+113030+113567
 
It looks like neither of these cages allows overhead heat lamps? What do you use for heat sources? Just UTH?

Dan

KRISSYK said:
Doug Barr makes awesome cages at a great price. His customer service is top notch also. He sells a 36x24x12 cage for $135 that is perfect for a adult corn.
http://www.herpcages.com/cages/cprice2.html

We keep all of our cornsnakes in rack systems and Iris or Sterilite containers but for a pet on display his cages are great. Also a boaphile cage 421D is also a awesome cage for $199 delivered. It may be overkill but would be more than adequate for the rest of its life. My snakes seem to do well in black enclosures.
http://www.boaphileplastics.com/cages.html

You cannot go wrong with either cage. We personally do not keep snakes in aquariums but we have over 100 snakes, so room is a issue. If you want to make a trip to Arizona I will give you a 60 gallon long terrarium :sidestep:
 
I think most people do just use undertank heaters, since they don't have to be replaced like bulbs do, and take up much less space. I definitely would recommend a UTH if you're having trouble with finding a place to put the lamps.

Also, I find that my cages heated with lightbulbs get drier than the ones with UTHs, which is sometimes good (like in the humid summer), but really bad in winter when it's already dry in my house.
 
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