Rio Bravo Reptiles: Building Boa Cages

How To Build An Easy Rack Cage System For Boas


Professionally built rack systems are sometimes expensive. Melamine racks are heavy and do not stand up to our use. We build our own boa racks using hollow-core doors. Hollow-core doors are universally available, lightweight, very strong used as shelving and cheaper than premium plywood. The only obstacle to their use is the void in the door, this article will show you how to get around that and easily build lightweight and durable rack-cage systems. Here's an example of a completed rack.

Materials for this project: 7 blank (not-drilled) hollow-core doors, 24in.x80in. (Masonite doors are pre-finished but a little heavier than plywood-skinned doors), some best-quality fir or pine lumber, pegboard, carpenter's wood glue and drywall screws, 1-5/8ft. and 3ft.. Tools: a circular saw, a table saw (or access to one), cordless driver-drill, palm sander or sanding block and some spring clamps.

To make racks of a manageable size the doors must be cut. The dimensions given here are for a 16-space rack utilizing the Rubbermaid 0137 blanket boxes. The finished dimensions are 68ft.Hx43ft.Wx24ft.D. Small changes would have to be engineered to use other brands and sizes. Begin by cutting two doors to 68in., these will be the rack ends. Cut the other five doors exactly in half (one section will be extra). After cutting a door, the new end(s) must be repaired. The next two photos show a factory end and the repair process, respectively.

Use the sander or sand paper to clean up the sawn edges. Push back any cardboard fillers and remove lumps of adhesive or paper scraps that might interfere with the repair piece you will fit into the void. Carefully measure for the thickness of the board needed to snugly fit in the void and rip a test piece on the table saw. I use straight grain fir 2x4s for this. After checking the fit make enough of this filler board to repair all the door pieces. Do not cut to length until you have measured each shelf-end. You will discover that each door is slightly different.

De-burr these fillers and apply glue to the inside of the door end. Tap the pieces gently in place being careful not to push them in too deeply. They should be just flush, not recessed. Clamp each repair until dry, two or three hours does it. Or stack them up exactly even with one another and place a heavy weight (80-100lbs) on top of the repaired ends. The next photo shows a completed shelf end.

The rack ends require slightly different treatment. Instead of inserting the repair board flush, leave 1/4in. exposed. This trick will prevent problems with scuffing of your floors or de-laminating of the doors when the unit is moved. Here's a shot of an end-panel properly modified.

Spacers are used on the undersides of the shelves to act as a track guiding the boxes into and out from the rack. They are on the underside so the shelf is left unobstructed for cleaning. And heating applications are a snap. Use the same material as was used for the door repairs or anything similar to make these spacers. Lay two tubs on the shelf, upside down. Push one tub all the way left (or right) to the edge of the shelf, place one spacer next to it and then nest the other tub against the spacer. Place the other spacer along the edge of this tub. Don't push everything too tightly together. Mark these spots for the spacers and install them on all but the bottom shelf. You will see that this leaves more room at one end of the shelf than at the other, this extra space is used for wiring your heat strips. Photo six shows the spacers being installed. Pilot drilling the holes before installing the screws is very helpful.

Now you are ready to assemble the rack. I begin by placing the top shelf, bottom-up, on a flat surface. Align the end panels, also inverted, with the shelf and screw together with the 3in. screws. Again, pilot holes are recommended. Here's a view of the assembly. Some care must be taken when placing screws. When door ends are matched end-to-end screws can be placed anywhere along the joint. Elsewhere be careful to only place screws along the edge.

The distance between shelves is a critical concern. You can test the distance and then measure and place all the shelves the same or do it the easy way. The easy way is to place the tubs to be used upside down on the previous shelf and then place the next shelf on top. You have to allow space for movement. The correct space can be assured by placing two sheets of 20lb. printer paper, folded into 1/4 size, on each outside corner. Don't push or force the shelves down, let them settle of their own weight. Spread the end-panels to allow the shelf to settle if the fit is too tight. Screw the shelf in place and proceed to install the next. This photo demonstrates the easy-spacing method.

Here's the completed rack, less the pegboard backing. Square the rack before installing the pegboard. Notice the kick-space at the bottom, this space could be used for another shelf but experience has shown it to be much more helpful for storing supplies. Plus, if you have ever had to retrieve a small snake or an errant mouse from behind a fully loaded to-the-floor rack you will appreciate this feature.

Heat-strip installation. We use Mylar heat tape directly under our cages for over 12 years and have never had any problems. This is absolutely the easiest, most energy efficient and overall best for the animals way to heat this rack I guarantee. Cut one length of 3 foot heat-tape for each shelf, terminate it with the male end of a cheap two-wire extension cord, 6 or 7 feet long. Clean the shelf and secure the heat tape in place with best quality aluminum tape, the type used for ductwork. Cut a hole in the backer to allow the plug and wire egress. Here's a shot of what the installation looks like. Observe the tie-wraps on the cord, details like this will make your system work great for a long time.

This last image shows a trick in connecting your heat-tapes that is very handy. Plug each heat tape into a distribution set up, line them up in the same order as the shelves they serve. Feed the set-up from your regulator or rheostat. This makes it too simple to test or isolate one or more shelves without disturbing the others. — Gus