Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Apologies for reposting

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Campti Sam

I wouldn't worry so much about night-time lows for La. at least for the summer months and sept. I would be monitoring them more closely towards the end of sept. and into early oct.
My real concerns would be two things. I know this is going to sound strange but I would be a bit worried about your water being able to squeeze through the spaces in that wire. My personal experience has been that if monitors can get their head through something they can squeeze the rest of their body through it. When I say personal experience I am referring to the first water monitor I ever got which was a 4 1/2 foot 35 lb. (very overweight) monitor that got into a wall through a hole I could barely fit my fist into. I ended up tearing down the wall to get it out. ialso once had a similar incident with an adult mangrove that escaped while cage cleaning and went for a mouse hole, It was half way in the hole when I grabbed it just in time. Once again had I not personally witnessed it I wouldn't have believed it (minus prior experience.)
My second concern would be the apparent lack of cover from this cage which could lead to stress with your animal an open cage like that would be fine inside but outside adds a whole different set of variables to the equation.
Personally if it were my set up I would put up two layers of 8"x8"x16" concreted blocks and then top them off with solid core 4"x8"x16" blocks either bonded together with regular mortar or covered with a layer of surface bonding cement (quick wall.) which is a great option if you are not all that good at masonry.
Then I would either construct a small shelter area in a corner area from blocks or out of a small dogloo type structure and fill in the rest of the clocked area with dirt and possibly add a few plants for cover. although you can expect the plants to get beaten up there are plants that will work. ( hibiscus comes to mind for the sake of simplicity and the ability to regrow quickly.)
I personally think you might have problems maintaining a pair of water monitors in a 12' x 6' cage without having territorial issues even if they are male and female (personal experience once again.)
Being very honest here I would be more inclined to at least double and preferably quadruple that floor space and add some visual barriers. One thing I have found (I live in Fl.) is that hurricanes tend to put waters in to hyperdrive as far as breeding goes and if you do not watch things closely your male may end up drowning your female trying to breed her if you don't watch them closely.
I apologize if anything in my post seems rude as I am only giving advice from personal experience and trying to do so constructively. Your cage does look nice and may do just fine. I figured I would mention the space vs. head size issue to give you a heads up it may be just fine. Other than that you could have a very nice cage with some minor improvements.

Hi, Calpersoni:

Thanks for the comments. I am very intrigued with your note on hurricanes and mating behavior. As we area supposed to have an extra active hurricane season this year, I will keep my eyes open. The cage is divided in half with a shift door between the halves (each half being 6 by 12). I can put a sight barrier up on the dividing panel. The wire on the cage is 2 by 4 inch mesh. Both lizards are over 5 feet, and as you see the female is robust. If she can squeeze through that, I'll buy you a case of your favorite brew . I have my eyes on the shade issue. How far south are you in FL? What do you consider to be minimum lows? Have your lizards bred for you?
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Campti Sam

Pretty monitor! I'd secure the bottom half and/or add some tub with leaves or soil for the guys to escape into. If you end up breeding, that'd be something to start working with and figuring out materials to use for when the female will need to lay somewhere. Many keepers that I know who keep monitors outdoors 'lock' them away in a heated box on the colder nights.

I expected to need a box with soil for the female. Any suggestions on size? Substrate?

How low can they go? 60 F??
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Campti Sam

Some type of sandy soil, that is kept moist. Look into big tubs and troughs. Like elidogs mentioned, options are the best. So maybe multiple laying chambers/nest sites just incase the female doesn't seem to like the one you offered. You might have to even setup part of the cage floor with its own 'sand box' so the female has the option to ddig and lay there too. Many laying chambers should have a soil temp of 83 to 86 deep down at the bottom. A lot of reptiles prefer to lay in those soil temps.

Being exposed to those colder temps could end up killing your lizard. The reason for the microhabitat is so that the monitor can escape into it. I'd look into locking them up in a warm box for the night if you notice it's going to be colder then 70.

Hope some other keepers get to chime in.

Is it necessary to lock them in the warm box? I am asking I don't know. I try to give mine enough places to hide so that a person could look in the cage and not know there is a lizard in there if it feels like hiding. Same with my snakes....Some people don't do that they want them to be more social. I try to give them choices thats just me.

you can get some ideas for a warm box from this Tom C. video. They aren't monitors but the box built on the outside of the cage is a example.

I am in northern central florida about 49 miles north of orlando. Ironically enough about the only lizards I have not kept outside are my waters (I am working on that this year after some delays on it.) but I have kept just about everything else outside lizard wise. If you are experienced enough at it and know how to read your animals and the weather patterns and the relationship between the two well you will learn there is a lot you can get away with temperature wise.
As long as you are getting a sunny day that is reasonably warm you can very easily get away with ntls of 60f and probably a bit lower than that (upper 50s) but it is VERY important that you get some sun and warmth the next day. Having a hide box with supplemental heat and plasticing up your cage when temps start to cool down can help greatly with this and can allow you to keep your monitors outside longer than you normally would otherwise.
Just to give you some examples of things I have kept outside (this could be a long list so I keep it short.) I kept green iguanas for over 15yrs and the only time I kept them inside was when I first got them (I lived in N.Y. state.) and once I moved down here only when night-time temps would get into the upper 20's. Their cage was covered with 6mil plastic usually from around Thanksgiving weekend untill about the end of Feb. or the beginning of March. They also had a hide box with supplemental heat. Adult Green Iguanas can handle temps into the low 40s with no problem at all minus the plastic and supplemental heat babies are a different story.
I kept Mali uromastyx outside for several years with no supplemental heat and would only cover their cage with plastic when night-time temps would drop into the low 30s or below and/or if it was going to be cool and overcast during the day. They pretty much hibernate for a good chunk of the winter here. I keep malaysian leaf turtles outside when temps still go down into the low 50's at night and they do fine.

I seemed to reach my limit with my last post I could go on with examples of keeping stuff outside but I'd end up writing a book. anyway I hope what I gave you helps if you want more info e-mail me. I am quite good at keeping things outside here and have learned alot from both my successes and failures and have no problem sharing what I have learned and likewise enjoy learning from others as well. I loved that video of Tom;s rock iguanas you could get some good insight into keeping stuff outdoors from that as well.

Wow nice cage You got your pimped out water tub and everything.

Like FR says monitors need choices just make sure your monitors have enough choices in its cage. If its a $10,000 dollar cage or a $100 dollar cage they still need choices in temps.

Y'all have been a big help. I have added sight barriers and a shade cloth. I will post images. Crutchfield has an amazing set up. I am not sure his specific construction materials could hold a large monitor. I had thought of chain link construction, but rejected it. The next step is to design a hide box. I am thinking of a five-ply plywood box, bottomless, with a pig mat. For egg laying, perhaps a yard square? With the top partially covered? The rationale for having it bottomless is that it would not hold water.
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Campti Sam