As most of you now know, my Brazilian Rainbow Boa was badly injured two weeks ago.
Now that I'VE had some time to recover from the horrors and investigate the cause more carefully; I'd like to set the record straight about these protective lamp cages and their usefulness vs. dangers.
I STILL VERY MUCH RECOMMEND THE USE OF THESE CAGES!!
Talyn's injuries were not caused by the cage as I bought it. I had to cut an opening out of the rim of the cage to fit it over my lamp cables. Being so sure that my snake "would NEVER go up there" I didn't worry too much about the sharp spurs left by the cut wire mesh. I did turn them inwards toward the lamp, but did not take any other steps to make them safe (filing, coating, etc.)
Well, Talyn DID go up there, wrapped herself around and crushed the cage enough to squeeze in between the rim and the ceiling. She caught herself on MY cut edges!! that I so carefully bent inside where she "couldn't reach them" !
Donna, aka Steel Rip, told a story about a young BP getting stuck in one of these cages and getting fried to death.
BOTH of these (and other) accidents could have been prevented if proper care had been taken!! The cages must be fixed securely AND TIGHTLY FLUSH with the ceiling! Any sharp edges should be filed smooth or sealed with silicone. I also now recommend wrapping duct tape around the top edge, further sealing it off from curious animals.
Make no mistake, protective cage or no, your animals WILL GO to the most unsafe place in their terrarium no matter where it is. It is our responsibility to make sure there is NO UNSAFE place for them to explore!!!
The cost of the cage is well worth it: My sister's boa crushed several (EXPENSIVE !!!) heat lamps, burning and cutting itself (not to mention several falls from the ceiling!) over and over again, till she finally got a cage to cover it. (This was why the protective lamp cage was one of the first things I bought!) The snakes do not learn from experience, but we can -- FORTUNATELY ---learn from everyone's experience... like mine!!
The following pictures shows the set up of my lamp (why I cut the cage), the lamp I bought and the way I cut it, and a fully protected cage (in Monty's terrarium)

Attached Images

	Lamp set up.JPG (12.6 KB, 30 views)
	lamp cage1.JPG (17.6 KB, 31 views)
	protected.JPG (29.5 KB, 29 views)

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Andrea