Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I am thinking of going with a 6x2x2 galvanized trough for three adult kimberly rocks. I would prefer to build a simple fiber glass lid with interior lighting. What do you guys think of an enclosure this size/design for adult kims? Have not purchased anything yet but am just trying to get some ideas flowing. Thanks.

-Ryan M.

I think that you could get away with a six foot trough with a pair, but not a trio. With monitors that will certainly benefit from a larger and taller enclosure, why not supply them with one. Kimberly rocks will take advantage of all vertical opportunities you give them and you will enjoy viewing the additional arboreal behavior as well. Females can be considerably smaller, shier, and delicate than the sturdier, more robust males. A larger enclosure with lots of hides and visual barriers will although a female to feel more secure and increase feedings without male harassment.

Stock tanks are a good start and they can easier be built upon as many are currently doing. If you are not very handy, you can easily convert many front access cages by mounting them to the top of a trough. Some would require a frame for support and some can be directly mounted.

Vision cages alone are not suitable for use in monitors and I had a bunch of extras sitting around. Here is a six foot vision cage mounted to a six foot trough for a pair of kimberlys. A simple frame, cover the excess screening, mount two floods, and this enclosure have a bit more vertical than just a trough. Even taller would be better, but you get the idea. .

Photo 1: Outside shot (don’t mind the temporary holding cage on top of the unit)

Photo 2: Inside shot

Photo 3: Female enjoying some time basking, out of sight of male
" alt="Image">

Outside

Inside

Female on bottom level

Thanks for the response bshif. That enclosure looks great and also very useful for the monitors. I will look into building a more arboreal enclosure for my trio. Thanks for the help.

Nice set-up Brandon!

-Krusty

Mine are simple boxes - some melamine, some FRP, some just painted plywood but heavily planted with hides, tubes and dirt boxes of varying temps and moisture. Not much to look at to be honest. A 6' x 3' floor space will work for a pair or possibly a trio. I have a 6'x3'x6'(tall) and they use every inch, but a 6'x3'x3' is working for my breeding pair at present. I don't do trios as it's too many variables per cage for me.

You might get away with that size tank, depends on how you set it up, kims are highly active and utilizeing sidewall space of the tank is important for extra room and Im sure helps in natural muscle development that is needed especially for breeding females. A flat stock tank with no sidewall hides and areas to roam is to small I think, It is simple to pop rivet some cheap screen to the sidewalls of the tank and applying advanced latex modified cement you can cement thin shale flatrock to the sidewalls and it becomes a kim playground and work out center, You can also run heat tape around the outside of the steel tank to create nice hotspots within the hides. Your kims will love you for it.
Bob
www.herphatch.com

Beautiful set-ups, both of you guys ! ! !
-----
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Mike Heinrich,
Mike@amazontreeboa.org
www.amazontreeboa.org