Habitat Design – Let Your Imagination Run Wild!
Some time back I was offered I rescued boa constrictor that had that escaped its enclosure and shortly after, i was supplied with a six foot by 18 inches wide glass aquarium with a modified lid on it. The fully grown female boa constrictor turned out to be 9 foot long and 80 pounds in weight and while this magnificent animal was in perfect health, it gave me the excuse to design and build a suitable new habitat for this exciting new pet and as one thing led to another, we ended up with an amazing wooden enclosure that seemed far more appropriate to house this large boa.
Function Dictates Design
The first Step was to fully understand the needs and requirements of a boa constrictor as this was my first snake of this species. In the wild, these large boas come from dense forest with fairly high humidity so a water feature with a pond big enough to allow for her too curl up and bathe in seemed like a necessary step. Also, a snake that long needs some room to spread out and some really large branches in which to climb on and rub against as this helps them each time they shed their skin. The advantage of working with wood on a large, one of a kind enclosure is that it’s fairly easy to add shelves, cut out areas for lighting and to custom your new pet’s habitat the way that you want it as well as to custom fit the room where it will end up being displayed. This enclosure ended up being 8 foot long x 4 foot wide x 7 foot tall and fitted into the large office area perfectly and certainly became an attention-getting feature that was fun for our employees to watch and admire and for any visitors that came in for an office tour.
The End Result
In the end, this amazing reptile was able to live and enjoy her expanded world in a habitat that was customized just for her and was a beneficial change from the sterile, cramped old glass aquarium that she had grown up in. The waterfall and pond gave the habitat the necessary humidity and a place for her to bathe in and the lighting and heating which were on timers set her new habitat at the perfect temperature with basking areas for her to rest on and regulate her temperature. I decorated the enclosure with a series of artificial plants as the heavy weight of this boa was sure to flatten most real indoor plants like a pancake. These proved to be the perfect accessory to finish off this beautiful new enclosure and gave our new pet a jungle like habitat in which to rub against and feel comfortable and thrive in.
About the Author:
Paul Barclay is the founder and CEO of Custom Reptile Habitats and is a lifetime reptile and amphibian enthusiast. Originally from Perth, Western Australia, Barclay grew up catching and keeping amphibians and reptiles such as turtles, lizards, monitors and pythons before immigrating to the USA where he has kept a more extensive list of reptile species.
As a business executive, Barclay has launched several international businesses and brands in the fitness, weight loss and footwear industries and more recently in the pet industry where he has for over 8 years consulted formally and informally for over a dozen companies. During this time, Barclay has worked extensively with every major pet store chain in the USA, Fortune 500 companies, manufacturers, breeders, importers, exporters, industry publications, reptile Zoos, YouTube personalities, trade show promoters and pet advocacy groups.
Now based in Dayton, Ohio, Barclay's latest creation has a mission: To advance the husbandry of pet reptiles by raising the bar on reptile products in order to provide customers with better habitat choices that enable their pet reptiles to really thrive.