Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I need advice for the new enclosure I am going to build for my Savannah Monitor. Now he is a year old and he has finally hit his growth spurt (thank god) and he has grown about 6 1/2-7 inches over the summer alone! He is now currently 16 1/2 inches long (I'm pretty sure he is at least 16 and a half) but my father says that "You're pet alligator is 18 inches," but I am positive with the 16 1/2 inches long (11 inches body length). We are planning to build a new tank, this tank will be the tank he will live in for the rest of his life. After 10 months in a 20 gallon, about 3 months in the 40 gallon breeder, he is starting to shoot up and really grow. We are thinking of making this his enclosure, the length of it will be 72" L by 42" W by 30" H. We want to put two 2x4's on each corner of the tank with them formed in a 90 degree angle. We have a giant wooden sheet about an inch thick already available and we plan to put that as the bottom with a sheet of mica over it. On top of the 2x4's will be a a wooden frame. We plan to put a door on the top with a hatch to open it and a lock. The frame will have a mesh screen under the frame. We want to try something else besides plexi glass to put around the sides of the tank so we want to try a very tough screen around all 4 sides of the enclosure. I am probably going to put about 90-120 pounds of soil in the enclosure and still use the same rock dish he is using (till he grows about another 6-12 inches) and the same habba hide. I want to put bigger basking logs however and I am going to add one more light fixture (a larger one to put a flood with 150 watts in it) to coinside with the two fixtures I have with 75 watt floods. What do you guys think? Any suggestions? Can I put screen around the 4 sides of the tank instead of plexi glass? When should I start making this cage and is he big enough and ready for it? His 40 gallon is starting to look too small. Thanks for any help.

16.5 inches after a year???Is that total length or SVL? Man I must be doing something wrong or mine's just a fast grower.. He's no more than 6 months old and already 16 inches long...I got him at the end of May at 8 inches total length.. he's now at least 16 total length. Doubled his size in under.. 4 months..
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Lucien

1.0 Columbian Redtail Boa (BCI)
3.1 Leopard geckos (2 Blizzard and 2 het Blizzard)
0.1 Savannah Monitor
13 rats
12 Gerbils
2 Dogs
3 cats
1 Albino Corey (fish)

Never mind.. thats total length.. I just read your other post. My friend's male Sav just hit 41 inches total length in less than a year... Are you sure you're feeding him enough?
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Lucien

1.0 Columbian Redtail Boa (BCI)
3.1 Leopard geckos (2 Blizzard and 2 het Blizzard)
0.1 Savannah Monitor
13 rats
12 Gerbils
2 Dogs
3 cats
1 Albino Corey (fish)

Ugh, I am asking about a new enclosure thats not the point! Anyway, when I got him I got him smaller in July 2002. He was about 5 inches (with his tail). I fed him ONLY crickets and other insects for 10 months. He only grew about 5 inches in the first year. I came to these boards and asked why this is. I was told he had to be fed mice on a regular basis. So, starting in July I think, I fed him mice every other day and I still am, and he has grown about 6-7 inches in 2-3 months. He is currently finishing last weeks shed. So now he is growing fine and I'd expect him to keep growing. He has been shedding every 2 weeks. Now he is catching up. The reason why he isn't 3 feet in stead of about 1 and a half feet is b/c I only fed crickets for a year. Now he is doing fine. Now, can someone answer my question about my enclosure?

P.S about you and your friends being different sizes, every monitor grows at their own pace, that is what I was told...

Sorry.. I wasn't trying to be mean or anything... I was just commenting... I know they grow at different rates but I've yet to see a properly fed Bosc that didn't achieve rapid growth in the first year of its life.. (I haven't kept any but one but I have talked to quite a few people that have kept them) It sounds like you're at least trying to fix any of the problems which I highly applaud you for. Right now my 16 inch Bosc is in a 5x4x4 enclosure..I'm planning on her 8x5x4 enclosure to be built after Christmas..
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Lucien

1.0 Columbian Redtail Boa (BCI)
3.1 Leopard geckos (2 Blizzard and 2 het Blizzard)
0.1 Savannah Monitor
13 rats
12 Gerbils
2 Dogs
3 cats
1 Albino Corey (fish)

He is soaking in the tub right now. He is actually about 19-20 inches. I have been measuring him from outside the tank. Right now I just measured him up close while in the tub, from head to hind legs he is about 11-11.5 inches. From head to tail, 19.5 inches. He is just finishing up shedding now in the tub. His tank I will build in the next few weeks will be 3x6x2.

I would avoid using screens, dirt comes out of them (when they dig) and they don't hold temps or humidity.

150W is pretty extreme, I have a hard time keeping the gradient with 90W(2x 45w) of floods in a 4x6x5.

Good Luck,

--Robert

I am a picture person and figured this might help. It is 7ft X 3.5ft and is 30" tall so it can be pulled through the doorway....I say like, sorry I don't remember the name but, think that a 150w is too large. An 85w red floodlight and a 25w incandescent work my temp just fine. All I can ay is those $15 thermometers work great and are accurate.

LATER