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I saw that you keep your adult Waters and Albigs in the 10' diameter cattle troughs and I was wondering if such an enclosure is large enough for a 6' water with room for him to grow. I'm asking because I'm on a space restriction and the enclosure needs to fit in my room and a cattle trough will fit...ironically. Thanks!

Out of curiosity, how will you get a 10ft in diameter in your room?

Also if you have little space built something square or rectangular and minimise space lost.

Because I have a 10' tough and it fits in my room without taking up walking space. My room is L shaped so I don't have a lot of room to work with and since I live with my parents while I'm in school, I have strict orders to keep the things that can eat the dogs and cats confined to my room. So I figured I use what I already had instead of spending an ungoldly amount for a cage that won't fit? I appreciate the input though and I had considered it until I realized that I didn't have the space for such a thing.

I think what Steeve was referring to in his response to you, was the fact that the trough is a 10' diameter.. How on earth do you plan on fitting it through the door to this room? Is this a garage or warehouse with a bay door??

Sure you might have 10' to spare inside the room, but how do you plan on getting it into the room in the first place??
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Treemonitors.com

it would definitely be big enough, a 10 ft circular cage is an enormous cage (of course that is relative to captive cages )

as for fitting it in the door, we don't have any garage doors or bays either in our building, we had to cut the thing in half and reassemble it on the floor
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robyn@proexotics.com

Pro Exotics Reptiles

Thats how you did that, I was always stumped by the pics but never thought to ask.
Jeremy
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"I am become death, the destroyer of worlds" July 16, 1945 Robert Oppenheimer

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I moved it into my room last night via cutting it and a friend came over and welded it back together for me. Now I just need to build the wood part and a lid then I'm good to go. It's just a matter of how long it'll take me to build it since I have no wood working skills whatsoever.

Oh and another thing, Robyn, what type of pond liners do you use for the pools? I was thinking of one like I saw on Miami Animal Police or whatever that was used for an 8 foot gator but I wasn't sure if that's ideal since it looked to take up a lot of room in her enclosure.

hi can someone show me a pic of the 10ft trough and tell me a place i can get one? thanks Gerald

Personally, I think that these round troughs waste a good deal of space, not to mention the need to build a structure which sits up on top of these troughs. If you are going to have to construct the top half of this enclosure set up, why not build the entire thing yourself, and make it a 10'x10' square?

A round enclosure whose diameter measures 10' has a square footage of only 78.5 sq', whereas an enclosure that is square(and consequently takes up the same amount of space as a round enclosure) offers 100 sq'. That's almost 22 extra square feet of space that you could be offering your captive by building an enclosure that is square. 22 sq' by captivity standards is a good amount of space(figure a 3'x7' enclosure added on to your existing enclosure- that in itself is bigger than what most people offer their adult water monitors, sadly).

Like I said, even if you purchase a round trough to use, you will still have to break out the power tools to build the top half of the enclosure. Since you are going to be working with the tools anyways, why not make something that's more efficient, while offering your captive more space to use?
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Treemonitors.com

When the enclosure has to hold a great deal of dirt (and thus, moisture), sometimes it's easier just to build it around a trough of something similar. I do agree with you that for people housing reptiles in their homes, it would probably be better to try to build something (and get a few extra square feet). Obviously you would need to use something strong (FRP?) to line it, and you would have to seal it.

For places like pro exotics though, it does make sense. Look at how they've got their place setup. The round enclosures allow the most space for their animals while still giving them room to move around and work in the shop. Plus, their enclosures aren't pushed against a wall or tucked in a corner (not all of them), so the circular troughs are pretty space efficient for their uses.

i have yet to find any cage strategy that is as durable (over a very long term) and affordable as a galvanized trough. they are simply terrific as a base.

since they come either oblong or circular, and we wanted the largest possible cage in the room, circular it was

triangulating the three together actually makes terrific use of space as well. i have suggested them for homeowners looking to do a "corner" cage, as the circle will nestle into a corner and still offer more square footage than the oblong trough.

i am no handyman, so we had a local guy come in and do the wooden lids, which have also worked very well. there is access from 3 ft. top doors, but the top itself is also hinged near the middle, and the entire thing lifts up pretty easily.

we have had those 10 footers for quite a few years now, and they have held up perfectly, working great for monitor setups, gilas, Uros and more.
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robyn@proexotics.com

Pro Exotics Reptiles

Robyn, how often do you change out the decomposed granite in those troughs? Looking at the size, that is a large task. I have a 6 mo. old BT that will surely need such an enclosure (sooner than later) and am curious about maintaining such a large home for my monitor.

thanks in advance,
chris
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Chris
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some of those troughs have had three different species in them over the years, and at this point, we have never changed the soil...

it doesn't smell, it still works well, no need to change it. as you spot clean it, scooping out crap here and there, the overall level eventually goes down, so you may add more soil to it, but you are still talking about a minimum amount each year.
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robyn@proexotics.com

Pro Exotics Reptiles

we only offer water bowls, no pools, running water, or swimming areas. that becomes too complicated.

if you are set on offering a swimming area, forget about the filters and circulation, just do as FR and Rich Ihle do...

get an appropriately sized basin (Rich uses the very large Vision brand tubs for his Anacondas), have a drain at the bottom, and a fill tap over it. fresh water goes in (when you turn it on), dirty water is flushed right down the drain. i think that is the only reasonable approach to it. but can be a huge use of water.
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robyn@proexotics.com

Pro Exotics Reptiles