Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Hello
I've been away for a while. Are there any new ideas for maintaining large ponds/tubs for large monitors? I hope there have been as I am not looking forward to lugging around a large soiled tub and cleaning it on a daily basis. Haha....

Maybe a flusing system connected to the sewage pipes? Then all we need to do is disinfect and presto....

RoadSpawn

You can get a 8 foot diameter round PVC stocktank from Tractor Supply Company stores for about $200. Get a hole saw blade, a drill and you need a 2" or whatever bulkhead from a plumber supply store or AquaticEcosystems.com. Saw the appropriate sized hole in the center bottom of the tank, screw in the bulhead, it's gaskets will prevent leaks, and glue in a PVC drain pipe schedule 40 PVC L. Place your stock tank with bricks around the bottom edge to raise it slightly so it will drain to the middle. Run the drain pipe outside or to a sewer. Thats how I did it. Not bad for a girl, huh?

Large size rectangular mortor mixing pans can be gotten for $13 at Home Despot. They fit indoor enclosures very well. When you want to drain it, drop in a little pond pump from the garden dept attached to a garden hose and run it out the window. Bubye poopy water.

Thanks for the reply.
Do you have any pics of your set up? How large is you enclosure?
RoadSpawn

You're welcome. I will post a tour of my monitor house when I get the camera going. It is a 12x20' cedar building, a portable. It has large windows that I fixed so monitors could go out the windows into outdoor pens. Some have dog doors. There are 3 walkin indoor enclosures I sectioned off by putting in banks of sliding glass double paned doors. This helps keep in the heat. One enclosure has 2 big albigs, one has 2 sub adult Crocs, and one has a pair of big Waters. I also have 2 yearling Waters, an S salvador and an S. bivittatus, that I am raising in my house. Outside the pens are made of dogrun materials with small soft mesh as an underlay on the cyclone fence to protect their soft noses and ramps, logs, trees, shelfs and pools. The pens are 10x10'to 20x 10'. The Water monitor pen has the 8 foot stock tank pool outside. It turns out my big Water doesn't know how to swim! There is a thread on Repticzone about it Inside the Waters have the extra large cement mixing pan. I don't think anyone could get an 8 foot stock tank through a building door so its just an outside idea. I like to build things. When youv'e got monitors you'd best start learning how to frame buildings hahahahahaha

Wow you have some big lizards roaming about there! I too have always liked building things and have always liked monitors = bad combo! Now that the savs cage is done I need to get started on the niles permanent place of residency. Must be nice to live somewhere where you can have outdoor / indoor enclosures? Not happenin in Missouri! I was also wondering about the drainage tub so thanks for posting that I would like to see pics too. Since my nile is ALWAYS in the water I will have to build something similar into his enclosure in the future. Right now for the savs I do what was stated in the first thread and "lug the tub of poopy water from the enclosure to the sink" which is NEVER pretty. It sucks, actually. Especially when the water splashes just right and it sprinks up to my face! UGhhhh.....
-----
1.1 Savannah Monitors (Annah & Terrance)
1.1 Nile Monitor (Lyle)
1.0 Timor Monitor (Timmmmaaayy)
1.0 Blood Python (Kevin)
1.0 Ball Python (Martin)
0.1 Leopard Gecko (Bella)
2.0 Bearded Dragons (Peter & Jack)
1.0 Mexican Black Kingsnake (Hector)
1.1 Kenyan Sand Boas (Wayne & Maude)
1.0 Dwarf Gecko (Little Girl)
1.0 Curly Hair Tarantula (Pube)
1.0 OBT Usumbara Orange Baboon Tarantula (Sin)
1.0 Emperor Scorpion (Ashoka)
2.0 D. auratus (Poison Dart Frogs)
1.0 Peacock Bass (Gary)

Yes the carrying of buckets of crap water does suck doesn't it? But with bulkheads it is a cinch to put a drain in a PVC tank. And if you use the garden hose pond pump out the window method you can hose down your friends. Oh I forgot to add to put that pump plugged into a GFI.

My cages are in the basement though crooked slash smiley face.
-----
1.1 Savannah Monitors (Annah & Terrance)
1.1 Nile Monitor (Lyle)
1.0 Timor Monitor (Timmmmaaayy)
1.0 Blood Python (Kevin)
1.0 Ball Python (Martin)
0.1 Leopard Gecko (Bella)
2.0 Bearded Dragons (Peter & Jack)
1.0 Mexican Black Kingsnake (Hector)
1.1 Kenyan Sand Boas (Wayne & Maude)
1.0 Dwarf Gecko (Little Girl)
1.0 Curly Hair Tarantula (Pube)
1.0 OBT Usumbara Orange Baboon Tarantula (Sin)
1.0 Emperor Scorpion (Ashoka)
2.0 D. auratus (Poison Dart Frogs)
1.0 Peacock Bass (Gary)

if you decide to drain into sewer, put a trap on the plumbing. if you do not trap and the ball valve is left open while the tank is empty, you will kill your family. sewer gas is dangerous.

Thanks for the heads up.
....I went to homedepot and it turns out not to be that big of a job. Granted I have the plumbing already there from an old toilet. Once I get started I will post pics of the work.