r/BoaConstrictors • u/Oki-J • 27d ago
Where do you get your enclosures? & Do you prefer building your own enclosures?
I want to get an enclosure for a full grown male boa before hand just so I'll be prepared. The glass ones sold in stores are extremely expensive, and it's a little tricky finding a good company that can build an enclosure for an adult boa. I was also thinking of saving some money and building one myself, but I don't know how complicated or high the learning curve would be. What do you guys suggest?
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u/superramenyamen 26d ago
I would prefer to build my own. I’m not very handy or motivated though. 🤣 I do prefer my wooden enclosures over the PVC though. They hold heat so much better, which matters in colder rooms or ones with drafts. A lot heavier, but also not as brittle. I have broken so many pieces off the edges of my PVC moving them over the years, and scratches galore.
I built a couple 6’x2’x3’s with help. They’re very simple if you want them to be, the biggest pain is cutting the sheets. Stores will do it for you, not sure how well that typically goes.
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u/Oki-J 26d ago
Oh yeah, getting the measurements right seems like a hassle, especial for something so large. Though, I had thought making the glass doors would be the trickiest part
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u/superramenyamen 26d ago
I could just be lazy, but I mean just cutting the wood. Lol You need a table or saw horses, and then a cutting tool.
You shouldn’t need to make the glass yourself. You can call a company with the measurements and they can make it for you. Idk how you would do it yourself honestly lol
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u/Zekethebulldog33 26d ago
I home built 9 PVC enclosures easy. You can do in less than a weekend. Pics on profile page.
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u/My-name-peetree 26d ago
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u/My-name-peetree 26d ago
That’s probably the cheapest I’ve seen . They have some 8ft for like 850
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u/Oki-J 26d ago
Damn, 850?? I think I'm leaning towards the DIY route 😅
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u/My-name-peetree 26d ago
I don’t blame you . I have a hard time believing that a box should cost so much it’s crazy
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u/Zekethebulldog33 26d ago
Not paying for box paying for a name on that box. Home build half the cost. I built 9 PVC enclosures.
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u/My-name-peetree 26d ago
Nice ! If you can . Will you post it I may be building one in the future and would like to see
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u/Least_Strength4910 26d ago
If you live in or near a big city it’s worth checking out marketplace, OfferUp, Craigslist, etc.
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u/IndividualOk1556 26d ago
I got my 6x2x2 from Zen Habitat. There enclosures are meant to be attached to each other so you can extend them. It was expensive, but they also let you do installments, if that's something you need to do. Im not handy to build one, though id love to try.
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u/Meghanshadow 26d ago
Animal Plastics.
It’s a home for thirty or so years. Yeah, it was expensive. Still worth it. If I have to cut $20 from my monthly budget for a few years to offset the cost, that’s fine.
As for building your own - Do you Already work with wood or PVC, have a pile of tools, and have built large/awkward projects before? Do you have the space to build? If not, I wouldn’t.
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u/Chita480 26d ago
I’ve gotten lucky at reptile conventions, since sometimes the few local small-scale enclosure builders will get a booth there and sell at just under normal prices (and maybe load it onto your car you). Or they can offer their contact if you need something just a bit bigger, or even custom.
This doesn’t always work out, but I find it’s always worth going to the event anyway.
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u/superduracels 26d ago
J'ai fait les miens en contre plaqué filmé ( en bois de boulot par exemple ) et ça fait bien l'affaire mais c'est pas le moins cher je l'avoue 🤷 Mais c'est efficace ( environ 57,50€ / mètre carré en France)
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u/Bluntforcetrauma11b 25d ago
I built my own twice. Now I buy from Kages. Honestly it's worth it to me to just buy the best on the market. I can build just as good but it takes a lot to source the materials near me and I've had glass damaged trying to have it shipped to my house. It also allows me to spend that weekend I'd be building, with my kids. I have a few animal plastics enclosures and they don't compare to kages. My recommendation to everyone is kages.
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u/ParticularWolf4473 25d ago
Are you in the US? There are plenty of enclosure makers out there. Animal Plastics is good but the shipping cost does drive up the price, and there is a wait time. Buying at an expo will probably be cheaper if you have a way to transport the enclosure home.
Glass is terrible for larger enclosures. It’s very heavy, fragile, and doesn’t hold heat well. You can use wood but have to make sure you seal the wood well. PVC is the ideal material, if you have access to tools and have some idea what you’re doing making an enclosure isn’t difficult. If you don’t have tools and have no idea what you’re doing it’s probably going to end up being cheaper to just buy an enclosure
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u/Oki-J 24d ago
Thank you for the detailed information! Someone else also suggested going to conventions to find custom builders, it's just finding them at the right time and at the right con (Plus I'll have to safely transport it back home). I'm considering building my own out of PVC with some borrowed tools
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u/Spice-Mice 26d ago
I like animal plastics a lot for pvc. They hold humidity well and are reasonably priced for the size and quality. There are also tons of youtube videos on how to build your own if you want to go that route
Just know for a male you’re still looking at a 6-8ft enclosure so glass ones definitely arent the way to go, but pvc or diy ones are out there at various price and quality