Dimensions: More horizontal or vertical?

I am in the middle of a summer project, making custom wood cages for my reptiles. I looked at several plans I have found posted and then sketched plans for mine. I had planned for the snake cages to be 15" high, because when I looked at many of the commercial cages available they are more horizontal; but in a recent telephone conversation with a snake keeper he said he was of the opinion that boas were more arboreal and needed vertical space. I would like to please get an idea of the caging dimensions y'all use for your own snakes?

lucile, depends on what kind of boa... some are more arboreal than others... common bci are a terestrial snake but if you give them something higher and something to climb on they will. rainbow boas are pretty much the same..... if you are dealing with large voa constrictor species definately long but since you are buildiing it yourself you can go as high as you like..... on our boas (constrictors bci bca and bco) a minimum of four feet per animal and we have 18in and 24 in high enclosures and they are also 24 deep.... however alot of cage builders make 12 incages for the boas and those seem to work well for the boa constrictor guys.... since you are the builder however it is really up to you

My adult boa cages are 48x24x18 high.

I have built them 24" high and added a 12" wide shelf the full length of the back wall. This effectively increases the floorspace in the cage by 50% and gives the snakes a more interesting environment.

My rule is make the cage as big as you have room for. I have seen immense boa cages up to 6 feet high containing large logs on which the boas were often found perching.
Just as robin said, if given the opportunity to climb most will take advantage of it, but for most boas it's not a requirement.

I personally don't like cages this size that are 12" high. Some breeders even use 10" high cages. I won't use anything less than 18" myself.
Short 4x2 cages look funny in my opinion and I want more room than that when servicing the cage
A full grown BCI that's 4" from spine to belly can be hard to get in and out of that small of an opening. Besides the fact I feel the snakes themselves deserve more room than that.

If you're talking Boa constrictor I personally wouldn't bother building that high... as neonates and yearlings they show some arboreal tendencies, as adults the majority of that is lost. You want it large enough to be able to get in for manipulating the animal, cleaning things and to see it easily... but if you go with those six foot high types, you won't see them up off the ground *that* much and it can get VERY expensive to heat properly. For a four by two cage (base dimensions) I would usually go around two feet tall, but somewhat taller works too. Within reason.