Reptile & Amphibian Forums

...I have a 12' x 7' spare room in my basement that I would like to use to house a water monitor. Right now, the room is cement (no carpet or flooring). I would like to make sure the floor around the room is completely sealed up so that dirt won't get stuck in the cracks around the edges.

What is the best way to seal up the bottom around the room to ensure that dirt or water won't seap into the cracks? Should I put floor molding around the room? What else would I need to think about?

Any thoughts would be greatly appreciated.

Thank you.

Make a cage in the room.
The room is not made to handle the environmental stresses that a proper varanid cage will handle. Our houses are designed to stay dry, to prevent them from rotting. Aside from that the proper environment is by far easier to accomplish with a containment inside the room.
You want the environment the lizard lives in to be condusive to its thriving, not the air too dry, too cool, or the animal will suffer, if you convert the room the room will rot.

Thanks for the reply!

Do you think it will rot as all the 4 walls are cement as well as the floor?

Thanks again.

it may not rot but it may be cold and stinky.

I wouldn't worry about the cement rotting but I would worry about the substrate temps. The typical basement cement floor is too cold.

As mentioned in a previous post, a cage within a cage is your best option.

Ive seen a few houses with moldy basement walls, its a serious health hazrd, and can condemn a house. The environment is wrong, the basement carries cold in mass through the ground and its walls so the cage will not warm up. The cage needs to be separated by air space from the ground, and set up as its own enviroment, not using a current room in the house. The house will also rob the moisture the lizard needs to live properly (the house is dry unless its too wet and mold will follow).
Just build a cage, do it right.

There a number of concrete based floor leveling products on the market that work very well for filling in and sealing old basement floors. The stuff is mixed very thin and poured in a thin layer (like 1" over the entire, desired area.

The ceiling must be covered and sealed meticulously to keep moisture off of the floor joists above.

The problem with concrete basements is the fact that it takes quite a bit of heat to keep the surface temperatures of the floor and walls within the proper ranges.

It's definately doable. I'm in the process of converting my entire basement into three large cages now, using the exsisting stone walls anf concrete floor. The cages are very well insulated and sealed, in fact they are nearly airtight. I've been able to keep the temperatures in the entire basement, just where I want them, using six banks of four, fifty watt outdoor flood lights. My electric bill skyrocketed last winter during the month I was experimenting with the temperatures down there. It should not be so bad within the now enclosed areas.

Thanks for all the replies! I think I am going to build an insulated cage in my garage. I don't want perminant damage done to my basement.