Proper Housing For a Burmese Python - Cage Plans
Building a Basic Wooden Enclosure

A 1.7meg MS Word doc version of this is here for printing, if you want me to send you a printed version of this, just ask!

Setting up a proper environment for your snake is the most important thing you will ever do for him/her, don't try to rush it or skimp to save money. When well thought out and carefully constructed, a cage can last for many years without maintainence. Skimping will lead to failure and increase maintainence time, since your snake needs the cage to work - it's tough to fix one once you've got it in service. Therefore, take your time - spend some extra money - and do it right the first time. Considerations should be made for size, location, safety, strength, humidity, and temperature gradient. Read and consider the Minimum Caging Requirements page to make sure you have clear goals before starting this endeavor.

It's good to avoid repeating mistakes others have already made. I have built many wooden enclosures and I've learned quite a lot from from my mistakes. Many of these errors evolve into improvements reflected by these plans. If you are patient and purposeful, and follow my plans and advice, your cage should be very sound, effective, and a joy (well almost) to clean.

Enclosure Design:
Many things can go into designing a custom cage. I have made very nice cabinets from hardwoods, containing subterranean hide-boxes and multi-leveled floors connected by tubes. I've used tempered display case glass and wood framed doors. I once had a cage that was built into the room, wrapping around the ceiling and containing plants and poles and all kinds of things. What I've found, is that Burmese don't really like to climb much, they don't really desire to hide much, and that when I got sick of cleaning all the furniture and decoration and removed it, the snakes didn't seem to change in any way. The more simplistic and easy to clean, the better. I have since, redesigned and rebuilt everything using this principle. The following plans reflect this design.

Introduction:
These plans are not intended to be step by step to success plans. If you aren't an experienced woodworker, you will likely have difficulty building a "strong box" - in this case, I'd recommend showing these plans to a woodworker and having them construct the raw box for you. You can easily install the light, heater, thermostat, caulk, paint, etc... yourself. This can be a lot of work alone! I built mine using less wood by framing out the front side - to do this required a special tool used in cabinetry to inset screws and join the plywood end to end. This is sort of difficult to do evenly and if you're not a cabinet builder - I recommend finding one or cutting out your door holes using a jig saw from a big sheet.

Materials List:
Time and Patience help every big project yield results you can be proud of.
(2.5) Sheets ¾" AB or better plywood - The smoother the more expensive, but also the easier to finish and better looking end product. The more layers, the less voids, the better - yet also more expensive (of course).
Enough 3/8" Plexiglas to make each door. For these plans this would be (2) 12" x 33" pieces.
(6) Hinges for the doors, the best are ones that have mounting screw holes at least ½" up from the edge, this is so that the screws don't interfere with the inset portion of your front piece of plywood.
(6) window locks or other suitable locking mechanism for the top of each door. I've found these work very nicely for very little cost.
(2) hinges for control box door, can be inset hidden or however you like
(1) locking device or latch for the control box door
(2) knobs or handles for the doors
Plenty of wood glue
(2) tubes of Big Stretch Caulk - I've found big stretch works best, but only if you're painting over it with at least three coats of the best porch epoxy/enamel you can find.
Enough porch/patio epoxy/enamel paint to cover about 200 square feet. Be sure to tell the people at the paint counter your intended use, and that there will often be standing water and harsh disinfectants on the surface. Read the labels, they'll give you lots of info.
Some sort of stain or finish for the cage's exterior.
(2) thermometers, one for each side of the cage.
(1) 250Watt ProProducts Radiant Heat Panel - may need more wattage if your ambient air can get less than 60 degrees F - consult dealer at ProProducts on selecting the right panel.
(1) 24" Florescent under the cabinet light.
Sheet metal screws for attaching thermometers and light etc...
(1) Biostat Analog Thermostat
(1) light timer.
Several butt splice connectors and a wiring tool to crimp them.

Minimum Tools Required:
Circular Saw, although ripping the big plywood is easier with a table saw or at the lumber yard.
Jig Saw, for cutting door holes out of front piece
Drill with a variety of bits
Screw drivers, pliers, wire cutters
As many Bar clamps or cinch straps as you can find
Router or table saw with rabbit-dato-type blades - if you use a router, it helps to have a fence or some sort of homebuilt jig.
An air-powered 1½" staple gun is nice for assembly, but nails or screws would probably suffice.
Electric Sander and variety of papers down to 220
Caulking Gun
Painting tools/equip.

If you find something's missing from these lists please let me know!

Rough Schematics:

Building the Cage:

1. Read through all the instructions first, and try to build a mental picture of each step.

2. Decide how deep you want the cage. I built mine 24" for ease of cleaning, but deeper (27") provides more room for your snake and utilizes more of the lumber. Cut all the boards to the sizes below, making absolutely certain the finished boards are square (all 90 degree angles) and show no sings of warping. All dimensions for a 20" tall box, change if making shorter, mine are 16" for stackability and space saving.

3. Dato out edges of side pieces ¾" on 3 sides, leaving the front edge whole. See Image 3 below for detail of this joint.

4. Do the same to the top and bottom edges of the back, leaving the sides of the back whole. Take some time to visualize how these two steps make the box construct so that you understand what's going on and you prevent later confusion.

5. Assemble all pieces except the front into a box checking for exact fit. Adjust accordingly, then glue, strap, clamp, and staple into place. Let dry overnight.

6. Front: Cut out holes for the doors, and cut 6" off of one side for the control box door (see Image #4) Alternatively, you can construct the front piece out of 6 smaller boards as shown in the image below. This will require special tools for end joints. See image #7.

7. Glue, and clamp on front piece and let dry overnight.

8. Router/Dato insets for the door glass around the door openings. It's nice to round the corners as shown in Image #5 & 6.

9. Cut a 10" by your finished inside height dimension board with a 45 degree angle to place in the corner of the control box. Insert it and glue/nail/staple into place.

10. Cut your glass to size and round off the corners, it's also nice to sand all the sides well so that your snake's ventral scales will not get caught on an open door when going in or out of the cage.

11. Install all the hinges and locks on Plexiglas and the control box door. Grind off any inside exposed screws and coat with tool rubber.

12. Completely caulk the inside of the cage, all corners and where the 45 is. It's nice to heavily caulk the bottom edges and corners very deeply so that it forms a nice rounded joint (easy cleaning later).

13. Sand the inside completely and round over all the edges around each door (again to prevent catching ventral scales when moving the animal). (see Image #5 or 6)

14. Paint the inside of the cage very well with the best porch enamel or epoxy you can find. Follow the directions well, sanding between coats so that after your 3rd or 4th coat, the surface is impeccably smooth.

15. Install your thermostat and a flat heat panel to the top, touching the 45 on one corner. Make sure the hole you drill in the 45 board is big enough for the thermostat sensor to go through. Then pass the heater wire through (cut off the plug then splice later) and wrap the inside cord in a cord hide strip that will stick it permanently to the ceiling. I drilled a small hole in the side of the cage to exit the power cord of the Biostat.

16. Install a florescent fixture in the middle. Install a thermometer to the back wall on each side, one for basking air temp, one for cool air temp. Ideally these read 90 and 75.

17. Let the paint set for at least two weeks, turning on the heater will speed things up. But don't put your snake in there until you can leave everything shut @ 90 degrees F for a few days and then open the glass and not detect any chemical odors.

18. If you live in a humid area, ventilation should be added. I enjoy having ventilation that I control with a fan. In the back of the cages I have a 2" house vent that connects to a 4" PVC pipe, this goes up through the room's ceiling to an inline fan and exterior vent. When a cage gets humid with feces etc... I can turn on just that one cage's air and exchange the air a couple times before opening it and disturbing my roomates. Work something out if you like, but make it adjustable, the more ventilation in there, the harder it will be to keep things humid and warm. Snakes don't need lots of fresh air, the leakage through the doors is more than you think. Other than that, you should be good to go.

Call me with any questions!

Images and Notes:

Image #1:

This type of cage design is very useful for housing multiple snakes as each cage is very strong and exactly stackable. Notice the plan can be adapted in many ways, the top cage in this photo uses hardwoods and framed doors with keyed locks. While this cage looks very nice, the door frames are prone to warping - that is why I developed the all Plexiglas door design used in the other cages.Note the presence of proper snake handling tools - readily accessible should there be an emergency. You can buy the best tools (at least get a pair of tongs for feeding!) from Midwest Custom Products, www.tongs.com.

Image #2:

A closer shot of some of the cages. Notice the window locks on the upper edge of each door. These can be substituted for classier hardware several different ways... the important thing here is that they lock the door and hold STRONG.

Image #3:

This is looking at two cages stacked on top of one another, with the end box doors open. It shows the joint between the side and the bottom (top) and the joint between the side and the top (bottom). This is the same type of union you want between the top and bottom of the back with the top and bottom.

Image #4:

Shown here is the "control box", a simple place to place the thermostat and any little tools you'd like to store here. I use it to clean up the wires, insulate the thermostat, and put notes about each snake.

Image #5:

This shows the "45 degree board" that forms the back wall of the control box, as well as the thermostat's sensor, the installment of the heater, and the routing of its wire into the control box. Also notice the smooth, rounded over edges around the door to prevent injury to the snake's ventral scales.

Image #6:

Notice here how the paint is continued out to the edges of the inset for the window. This protects the wood from the excess humidity that will occasionally occur. Also, again, notice the rounded over edges around the door to prevent injury to the snake's ventral scales when pulling them from the cages.

Image #7:

Here, notice the glossy finish and special tooled end-joints on the front middle piece. I built my cages this way to save lumber, you can however, simply cut out the door holes from a whole piece as discussed above. It is important to keep the inside simple and smooth - each edge or bend is a place feces will pile up and be difficult to clean sometime down the road. Round all the inside corners with lots of caulking and paint well to avoid cracking.

Image #8:

Here, notice the installation of the heat panel, including routing of the wires for power supply and thermostat monitor. I have the wires towards the door for eas of inspection and visualization of the pilot light on the panels.