Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Does anyone here have an opinion as to where to put air vents in the cage? (I am thinking they shouldn't be near the heat lights as the air will tend to escape out them.)

I figure I will just drill a bunch of decent size holes to act as vents but if anyone here has suggestions they would be appreciated.

thanks!

-Chris

This is an interesting question, I'd sure like to ask my high school Physics teacher this one.

From what I understand about air movement (which honestly isn't much), if there is a WARM wall and a COOL wall, air will travel in a circular motion. It will heat up and rise along the WARM side, travel across the ceiling, cool down and sink on the COOL side, and creep across the floor to repeat the same cycle.

All I can think is that you don't want to lose your hot air by drilling the top of the WARM side (where your heating elements are). Also, having one single vent doesn't do much for airflow, but two vents creates a passage for the air. I don't know if it's best to limit airflow (to optimize heat and humidity retention) with a single vent or increase airflow with multiple. These are just things to think about. Hopefully someone else can add to this.

To clarify, the GOAL of your enclosure is to retain heat and humidity, I just don't know what is considered too little airflow.

Hi, it`s best to put a vent at each end of the enclosure, a few inches above the substrate, (make them approx 6 to 8 inches long, and 3 inches wide). If you place them high up, you`ll lose a lot of humidity.... How big is the enclosure?

Enclosure is 72"wide x 54" tall x 30" deep.

Sorry, I forgot to ask; which species do you keep?

Good ol' Bosc

Bosc`s monitors ARE great! You need a humidity around 60 to 70%, so placing the vents lower will help keep it in, do you have a deep substrate, which also helps?
It`s getting late, I`m in the U.K at the moment....

3 inches wide? We want to keep the lizard from escaping the cage right? Why so wide?

thanks,

chris

Oh, i get it. I should actually buy some kind of vent and cut out a hole and install it. Couldn't I just drill a bunch of holes at that location that cover that much surface area instead? seems easier.

I see you got it! Yes, you can just drill some holes, I`ve actually done that in my salvator`s enclosure, I used a 1/2inch auger drill bit.

Hi again, you misunderstand, the vents are covered with metal screen/mesh, so escapes are most unlikely! You can make them a little less wide, just go with approx 6 x 2 inches.