Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I documented the whole thing if questions arise of construction. I am happy with the outcome, and it only took me 3 days. awesome.

More pics but I am tired.

Questions- How cold can it drop at night... I am concerned because it is in the basement. I have 2 infared 100 watts in the cage now, but i think i will need more than that. I also still need to cover the other half of the cage.

Are any plants or trees harmful to monitors or would people tell me if i put them in the enclosure they will just get ruined and not to waste my time. I was thinking of some kind of ivy.

Ok I lied. More pics.
She is already starting to dig up the ficus I put in there. I guess that was a bad idea ha ha.

My version of the retes stack:

Actually, this was something I did not fix yet, and of course little terrance found it right away. Its like they smell out the weaknesses.

Looks good. You think about adding a retes stack for a hide.

Ha working on that right now actually.

That was fast...

Looks good, one thing I wonder about is the tarp as a liner, I think if your lizards are as active as they should be that they are going to rip that sucker up in no time.

Maybe I am wrong, but either way,

Goodluck,
Mik.e

The top needs to be closed off completely, otherwise the heat and moisture rises in a convection current out through the top. Leave a side entrance, but have a door that closes securely, and adds to its ability to hold heat and moisture in.

Your advice has been very helpful. As you can see I have the entire enclosure cover except for 1/4 by the door. I have already built the frame and I just need to get a piece of glass or plexi glass tomorrow to sit in the frame. I want to be able to peek in and see them now and then. I was also thinking about going around each edge, even the ones that look tight and sealing them with that expandable seal stuff... good idea?

As far as the tarp goes.... We will see... I hope it does not get torn up, but if it does i'll just have to figure something out. This is a learning experience.

I'm more curious about how well the 2 have gotten along already just in the short time they have been in the enclosure together. They didn't live together before, but it looks like it will work out.

Looks good! I would stay away from Plexiglas as a top though. It tends to warp really quickly so I'd try for glass if I were you.

In the event the tarp fails you can get a pond liner. It will cost more but will be more durable. Looks good though, just as mentioned get that top closed off. Nice to see savs getting room and soil.

Cheers

Not too bad looking I would add more hides for them. I only saw some hollow logs that they looked too big for. nice job.

Looks like a good start. You're going to need some more heat in there, you've got a lot of open area (air). Keep the dirt moist and as long as your enclosure is contained (closed up), the humidity should be there.

How deep is your dirt/substrate? Hides?

Your bigger Sav is gorgeous. Nice and plump and I like the bigger, fewer spots and lighter color.

Looks like a good start. Offer more surface hide spots. The tarp, yeah, I don't know about that : )

Close up the top, and look to either use a space heater to bring up the temp of the entire room, or consider some radient heat panels mounted to the roof of the cage. RBI makes some nice ones, various sizes, we will start offering them next week.
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robyn@proexotics.com

Pro Exotics Reptiles

My BT enclosure looks almost exactly like that, although I missing the flourescent strip light and my door is glass panels from an old entertainment center on top.

Tarp-mine was shredded after 3 weeks. I use a pond liner now though and so far so good.

My BT has the same version of a retes stack, haha we are constructing a more appropriate one.

Anyway just wanted to say it looks good.
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1.0.0 YBS
1.3.0 RES
1.0.0 red belly cooter
1.0.0 Fire belly toad
0.0.1 Savannah Monitor
0.0.1 Blackthroat monitor
0.1.0 Leopard Gecko
cats, dog, ferret, rabbit, rats, mice and hamsters

Thank you all, I hope the tarp lasts, but I am not counting on it.

I am still concerned about the heat... Sort of. I have to lower all of my heat lamps, I think that will bring all the basking temps up to where they need to be. It drops to about 68 at night, i have one infared heater in there that I think will be ok for the 8 hours the lights aren't on. If not, the space heater is a good idea. Working on closing up the final 1/4.

As far as hides go I have added a bunch more... Logs, Rocks etc... I am working on building a stack as well. I was excited to take pictures before I put everything in.

The dirt is about 4 inches deep towards the front and gradients up to about a foot in the back, where the basking spots are.

Robyn, I would be interested in those heat emitters to mount on top, let me know when you get them in!

I keep my lights on 24/7 in the enclosure. That's the only way I can maintain the proper temps.

As for your radiant heat panels, once you get them, I'd look at putting them on the bottom (yes, under the dirt), or on the sides. If you put them on the top, you'll just have a nice warm layer of air up where the monitors will never feel it, and your substrate will stay cold and it would pretty much defeat the purpose.

an hour after my post, UPS delivered our first batch of radiant panels, they are ready to go : )
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robyn@proexotics.com

Pro Exotics Reptiles

Are they waterproof?

I have 2 inches of insulation under the dirt so heat emitters under there would probably start a fire :/

I would like to see a pic of the new little gems as well.

Yes, they are waterproof, but not submersible. They are meant to radiate the heat away from the panel, not buried in dirt. You would mount them in the ceiling of the cage, they would radiate the heat downward. They will not burn your hand or an animal by touching the heating surface, but you can still bump cage temps significantly.

This is a medium sized panel, 80 watts, 13 inches by 23 inches.

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robyn@proexotics.com

Pro Exotics Reptiles

How much are those bad boys robyn?

i'm using 7 of these panels from rbi and they are great imo. if your worried the cieling is to high to make the most use of these panels add a shelf to mount them to at the hieght of your likeing and you can put a decrative plant on it that hangs down that your guys cant get to, to destroy. the panels dont heat the air they heat anything directly below them like the soil or stones to give them a great basking area. i use slate on cement blocks.