Boa Hotel - Boa Imperator

This Build is a big one, it's for a the Boa Imperators, this species really needs to have a nice bit of space being quite large snakes. Boa Imperators need a medium temperature basking spot 31c-33c with cool side minimum of about 24c you can do a with night time temperature dropping to 24-26c but Simon keeps his Boa Imperators at the 33c basking to 24c cool end stable. Boa Imperators require medium strength UVB Lamp to maintain proper health with Ferguson zone UVI of 2-3.

Build Specification (Per vivarium)

W6ft H2ft D2ft Custom Bespoke Vivariums, pigeon hole stand & electrical cupboard by Southdowns Aquatics
Thermal seperation slats
Sealed with 100% clear aquarium grade Arbosil 1081 Silicone
Central hardwood support sealed, plus stainless fittings
1x Habistat pulse thermostat
1x Habistat dimming thermostat
1x 100w Arcadia Halogen Basking Bulbs
Arcadia 250w rated ceramic Bulb Holders
Pro Rep 250w Ceramic Bulb
Habistat 29in x 11in 35w side mounted heat mat secured behind mesh)
ProRep large rectangle Heat Cages
Arcadia pro T5 22inch 6% UVB unit
Arcadia Pro Light Cage
Inkbird IHC-200 WiFi Hygrostat
Zoo Med Repti Fogger
Custom designed fogger vent
All fittings for electricals are done mechanically and not with adhesives for maximum security and pet friendly safety.

Assemble Shell & Subframe

Part one of the build, I have assembled the outer shell. The 6x2x2 shell is massive and well built, once built and worked out where to port out for electrical I completely sealed the vivarium with Arbosil 1081 clear silicone. This build needed a large full seal due to the constant high humidity environment to come.

Flattening out Bamboo Root and fitting wood to mechanical fittings for them

Boa Imperators really do benefit from having climbing space and do frequently use vertical space especially at night. Boa Imperators are relatively strong and large bodied snakes that would destroy any non fixed climbing opportunity. So for this I sourced a few large pieces of bamboo root to fit to the back of each vivarium, Bamboo root doesn't come flush to a flat surface so I had to mark off and flatten the protrusions to make them flush. I then fix them using huge mechanical to wood fixings with a massive washer to spread the load to prevent the vivarium breaking. I put one of these hefty fittings on each protruding section that contacts the vivarium wall for maximum safety and security. There is no space behind these roots for a snake to get tails trapped!

Stacking, supports and thermal seperation slats

When you got the plan built for one vivarium you got a template for the others to go on top. I find it advisable to always add slats between each vivarium to prevent the heat from the top of one getting to the bottom of the next one. Sealed all of them and ported all of them for electricals. Also put in temporary supports to prevent buckling between each vivarium, I put permanent structural sealed poles in later. But you can see from this photo how it looks with the temporary supports and the thermal slats between each vivarium

Fitting the electricals

We can now get to the point where we fit all the electricals. Its always good to plan the fit to see where things go, especially when you have a busy amount to allocate space to making sure you have plenty of room for cages, supports, wires etc. Sid & Si's Snakes will always use mechanical based fittings for cables rather than chemical or adhesive. One reason is adhesives that do not fully set such as tape or sticky pads should never be used for pet safety, and also if the fittings are mechanical removing and servicing items becomes easy in the future

This build had lots of things to fit in the stack and quite complicated as everything had been pre designed to fit in a bespoke electrical cupboard where space was measured out. All the bulkhead porting had to be very precise to ensure everything lined up correctly. Note how all heat sources have individual thermostats, all protected and UVB light under guard as well.

Installing humidity contols

Boa Imperators are a species of snake that are found in a high humidity environment, they can be kept with basic humidity control by spraying water every so often, but there is a difference between damp and humid. Sid & Si's Snakes we strive to make the most comfortable environment for our animals so on this build each vivarium got humidity control in the way of an Inkbird IHC-200 wifi hygrostat and Zoo Med ReptiFogger unit with custom designed bulkhead fittings.

From the pictures you can also see the custom thermostat holders as well, the two thermostats inside the cupboard.

Installing it three times over!

It is the Boa Hotel, and the hotel has a few rooms, so each one had to be wired up the same and fitted with similar things. This was a truly epic build and stands an impressive 207cm (6ft 7inches!) tall.

The custom electrical cupboard means Simon can keep all the electricals neat and tidy, and the noise of the fogger units running is kept to a really low level. We think it looks really cool to having it laid out so effectively.

You will also notice the effective use of storage space as well under and on top of the units maximising space usage.

Get the electrician in!

When designing a wall of vivariums with lots of electricals one of the things that often gets over looked is power supply. Running a few things off an extension is okay for a while, but with a massive project like this you need to consider fire risk and not over loading the sockets. Simon called in an electrician to install extra sockets at bespoke heights to fit all the needs of the build.

Finishing touches

Last but not least is furnishing the build with substrate, Sid & Si do their own pet safe forest floor blend of substrate, and furnished with lots of hides, climbing and greenery. Fun lables and custom door knobs added. The Vivarium is then test run for the final time before adding the residents. We think they look happy with the result.

Mary Nidhoggur
Snuflles