What should I do with this cage?
 

My name is Wayne and I am new to this site, But I thought it would be fun to start a discussion. I'm asking for Ideas. First of all, I'm not completely new to keeping reptiles, but It's been a long time. I had pythons when I was much younger. I just got a pair of Uros and just finished their custom backdrop in the cage I keep them in (Picture included). Most of my life I have kept and bred birds. Here is my question: What would you put in this cage? This cage used to house several pairs of finches (Picture included), but is now empty. It is a large cage: Approx 7' wide x 5' tall x 3' deep. Keep in mind that I can modify it as needed. Solid walls, glass doors on front, whatever. Or I can keep it mesh, or install a finer mesh (maybe for a Panther Chameleon). I have a few limitations. I live in a very rural area without a pet store near by, So I have a hard time getting live insects to feed. I know I can keep my own feeder insect cultures, but that seems like a lot of extra work. That's why I have uromastyx! I thought about a tree python or boa, but they seem to want to hide all day and would not benefit from the extra space. What I really want is a young Egyptian Uromastyx, but they seem very hard to find. Any ideas? What would YOU do?

Ok, so I am a cham keeper, but also have snakes and turtles. However, I see that as a great 3-cham enclosure, if it were divided and properly outfitted for chams. I also see a nice monitor enclosure.
I see your finches in your pic:) I raised a rescue baby mockingbird in one of my cham cages. Ignore the dates, I'm too lazy to set dates manually, lol.

Cage ideas
 

Good idea! I never thought to sub-divide the cage into 3 spaces. Would the walls need to be solid between each space so the Chameleons could not see each other?

Also, Do you provide a wide variety of feeders to your Chams? is it a lot of work?

Don't know if I'm a monitor guy! Caiman lizards are awesome, but again, they seem like a lot of work.

Wayne

If you can keep the humidity it would be an awesome iguana enclosure! Just might need to cover a couple sides to keep in the humidity. And depends on where you're at too.

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I'd go with what your gut is telling you. Holding out for the Egyptian Uro is going to give you the most satisfaction. Now with that said, I'm a boa nut, so I'd make a beautiful display out of that with climbing branches for a locality boa. Something that would look beautiful in it, like a Sabogae, or longicauda.

Sabogae and Longicauda
 

The first thing I considered was converting to an Iguana cage, but I'm just not interested in iguanas. Good call though!

Sabogae and Longicauda Boas are something I've never considered because I have never heard of them! So I looked them both up and I like the idea of one of those. Both beautiful snakes, although I am more intrigued with the dark markings of the Longicauda. Of the two, which is more likely to take advantage of the verticality of this cage? Because of the rarity of these species, should they be set up for breeding?

Sorry for the delay in my response. Yes, chams are a lot of work and expensive compared to my other herps. I was sick last year, hospitalized for a time and had to depend on someone else to care for my collection. 3 chams died but all other herps were fine. (Not the fault of the person who took over for me - they are very picky and require a lot of attention). It would also be an expense to divide and properly outfit each compartment if you were to keep chams.

I think Randall has offered great advice.

Thanks LauraB. I sure hope you are feeling/doing better now. Sorry you lost a few of your flock.

Either one would use the entire enclosure, boas like to climb when younger, and will still climb as adults regularly. the Longicauda are much more common than Sabogae but neither one are rare enough to make you feel like a breeding pair would be necessary imo.

Thanks Randall
 

Thanks Randall for all the great information. I'm a learning nut and love to find out how everything works! Even if I don't get one of these awesome boas, I still know more about them then I did a week ago! Also, I saw some of the new baby pictures you posted. They are beautiful.

Do you have any suggestions where to possibly get a Sabogae or Longicauda? Do you have either of these breeds? I found some from a few of the usual big online sources, but would rather help out smaller breeders.