There is a lot to go over and I did my best to go over the existing post but heres what I have to say from my experience from my 2.



Firts as soon as you can replace that screen top. The air cirulation can deydrate and kill your monitor faster than anything else. As stated plywood or acrylic will get the job done. Very few small holes needed for air exchange.



Second more heat. You want a hot spot of atleast 120 for him maybe even higher. What wattage bulb are you using? What is the temp below the light on the ground? A branch above the soil below the heat light will give him a small amount of temp gradient. Shoot for a little wider than his body so he can comfotably bask on it. That way he can have a hot spot and warm spot as well as the cool side away from the light.



More dirt atleast on one side for now. This will allow him a place to go if he needs more humidty and cooler temps. They like to burrow and this gives you a margin of error if your cage is to hot or not humid enough.



A soaking pool for this species as well. Again if your humidity is too low it can retrete into that. They ofen just walk though it.. LOL.



That will at least get you started and moving in the right directions with the right concepts.



From there lets move on to the new cage. It needs to be big. My pair is in a 7' tall x 7' wide' and 3' deep. A single feamle could get away with a little smaller, a single male will need larger as my pair will before to long. You often need to line these cages as you asked about due to humidity. Not only the bottom but the sides as and top as well. There are a few ways to achive that.



It will outgrow even the 55 gal in less than 3 months if fed and heated well. They Like a tall cage so they can clinb especially as babies and juvies. Even as adults mine use every bit the cage. A humididier can help a lot to keep the humidity high enough for them. But with very little vents humidity can be mannaged with sparying and a deep soil base. I recommend a 2 foot soil base alone.



Good luck they can be great to work with but are certainly a challanging species.

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