Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Finally put Maynard into his new home. After some exploring, he dug a nice burrow under the water tub for a nice quiet spot to digest his latest meal.

Check out some pics

Nice lookin' setup, Jeff.

I see that Maynard wasted no time in getting himself dirty. Ha!

Good job. Congratulations!

Catch ya later!
HH
-----
Due to political correctness run amuck,
this ol' hillbilly is now referred to as an:
Appalachian American

What do you have 3 lamp hoods for? Just curious as their function.

They are there to create a larger warm zone. Considering there's 24 sq ft of surface for him to crawl around on, I wanted to get at least 8 or 12 of that as the warm side (~85 degrees). One lamp definitely wouldn't accomplish that like it did in my 50 gal tank!

On another note, and I hope I am not speaking too soon. It looks like the dirt mixture or 75% top soil and 25% decomposed granite is a good combo. He has already made a nice burrow under the water tub and the dirt is holding 80-85% humidity without me adding any water too it yet.

Nice enclodure you built there. I'm also looking to build one out of a 8x3x2 stock tank. My savy is still small, but growing really fast. I was thinking of building a 8x3x4 cage, so I can use the 2ft of stock tank for substrate, and have another 2ft above that. I noticed your cage is as tall as the stock tank itself, with 1ft of substrate. I understand height isn't as important as width or length. I'M JUST TRYING TO DECIDE if I should go with a cage set-up like yours, or spend a lot more time building another 2ft above the stock tank. Is it necessary? Is it worth my time? Is it really necessary to house a single monitor with 2 ft of substrate? Will a 2ft high cage be large enough to house a full grown male? These are just some questions I had on my mind. Any tips, will help. This will be my first time building a cage. Thanks.

Se7en,

" alt="Image">

I have the same idea with my cage. What I have now is the base of the cage. i included the top but plan on building up 4 more feet with front loading glass doors. It will be another section that will fit on top of the base and can be bolted together, kind of a modular design. It will also help when moving.

Through my research and feeback from the members here, 2 feet of substrate is mostly for breeding and females to lay eggs. Ihave noticed that my male likes to burrow, more or less to feel safe.

The main issue I have with 2 feet of substrate is the weight. I use top soil and decomposed granite and all together it weighs about 1500-2000 lbs. It depends on where you have your tank. Mine is on the first floor of my house, but there is crawl space underneath, and I wonder how much it can hold. I will eventually fill up the entire tank if necessary, but for now

Wow, you have big plans for your cage. I would love to see a pic when you complete your project. As for the weight of the cage, mine will be placed in the garage, so it shouldn't be a problem. I'm trying to keep my cage as simple as possible. I'm not trying to cut corners, I just don't want to make things harder than it should be, considering it will be my first cage build. Just trying to figure out what I need and what I don't. Thanks, and good luck on the rest of your project.

Se7en,

" alt="Image">

7
Here is one of my stock tank enclosures!
Mike

-----
Mike's Monitors!

Man... that looks nice. I love the detail, and the wood you used. I can see you didn't even build around the stock tank. You built the top selction, and just placed it ontop of the stock tank? Every stock tank enclodure I've seen, was built around and above the stock tank. You must have saved a lot of time and work, by just building above it. What are the dimensions of the stock tank? What are the demensions of the whole cage? Whatever you house in this enclodure must really appreciate the work and detail you put into it. Thanks a lot for the wonderful example!

Se7en,

7
I built 3 of these, 2, 6'ers and an 8'er.
I keep a 1.1 pair of Peachthroats in each of the 6'ers.
I think they are happy in their enclosures!
Thanks for the compliments!
Mike

-----
Mike's Monitors!

Beautiful Peachies you got there. I really like the second pic, it's funny how you caught them "having fun" in the bushes. They look big, how old and how long? I would love to one day find a mate for my savy. Afterall, every living creature's main purpose or goal is to REPRODUCE, some even die trying.

Se7en,

Mike,
What did you do for the front glass? Is that one or two pieces? I have heard of buying a window and using that, but whta about buying two sheets and carving or buying rails for it to slide on ?

I used two pieces of glass. you can buy simple glass tracking at any home improvement store!

A window would work as well, it just takes up too much of the view for me!
Mike

-----
Mike's Monitors!