[missbehavin]

Hi there

We are planning on purchasing a Royal python (or 2) this year and was wondering how hard it would be to convert the cupboard under the stairs into its home by putting the nesecery requirements in and sliding glass on the front top half of where the door would have been.
The highest point of the cupboard is 7,1/2 ft, width 2,1/2 ft and 8 ft in length.
Anybody done convertions of this kind? A little advice would be great

Thanks
H

 

[boa-stu]

if your understair is like ours it shouldn't be that hard.as long as you got the right wood,glass.be a nice focal point aswell.i was going to do our's but the electrical stuff is under there(trip switches,fuses) so i decided against it.just make sure it's boarded out properly and no weakness in the joins.

 

[missbehavin]

Thanks. Our under stairs has nothing but smooth walls and I thought this would be an ideal size. I really need to do some research on what materials we will need. We have a friend whos a builder so maybe he could help too. (hehe getting all excited now)

Cheers
H

 

[mark67123]

It'd be a bit big for royals wouldn't it? Wouldn't be easy maintaining the right temps either.

You could split the area into two - have one upper and one lower viv, about 2.5ft high each. Then use the remaining top area for storage or something.

Personally, I'd be more inclined to make the space open-plan and just have a stack of normal vivs there.

 

[missbehavin]

Cheers for your input Mark, I guess this needs quite a bit of thought and research. Splitting it sounds like a great idea, which would mean we could house more reps :lol: But also it sounds expensive. Hmmm, youve burst my bubble now (jk)

Anymore ideas/advice most welcome

 

[PendleHog]

Id agree with Masrk, too large for a shy snake like a royal. I would definately split it up for more reps. You could also do it viv by viv whenever you had the money, then it wouldnt seem as expensive?

 

[mark67123]

Sorry about your bubble

Long term it would work out cheaper to have a stack I reckon. It'd still take a lot of materials to convert the cupboard and it'd cost a lot to heat it long term.
You could build the vivs yourself out of contiboard - you could probably make three 4x2x2's and a couple of smaller ones to fill in the gaps for about £150. You'd then also have some flexibility if you wanted to use the space for something else. A 4x2x2 would be big enough for 2 average sized royals, then you have maybe another 4 vivs spare. Would probably work out less expensive to heat the 5 smaller spaces than the one large one.
And if your royal(s) turn out to be anything like mine they're not great display snakes - unless you often stay up until 4am in the dark with just a red light on

 

[missbehavin]

Sorry about your bubble

Its ok, i'm a forgiving person :wink:

As I have you attention here, can you house Royals together?

Im all in a tizz at the minute as I want eveything now!, we've been waiting years for the right time to own reps again and I just want everything like this week lol. Must calm down and take deep breaths .

Fist things first, I need to build/buy my future pet/s a home. ahh where to start.....

 

[mark67123]

I believe you can house royals together but probably best if it's two females.
Not sure but two males might not get on around breeding time (i know this applies to some other snakes but not sure about royals) and male and female might mean unwanted breeding.
I prefer to house snakes singly - a lot easier when it comes to feeding and you can monitor them better (with two together you don't know whose poo is whose, etc). Also no chance of one stressing the other in any way.
For a single average-sized royal a 3x2x2 viv would be plenty big enough. I currently have my royal (2 yrs old and just under 3ft long) in a 33x18x15.

So if you had two 3x2 vivs along the bottom there may be space for an extra viv, 2x2x2! Perfect for a small milksnake or something