Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I am looking for an alterinative in building a wooden enclosure. I have a small hatchling and I want a enclosure that will last me several years. Has any one have any experiance with the reptarium style enclosures? or plexi glass?

Thank you
1. water monitor
1. water dragon
1.res
1.ybs
1.mud turtle
1.map turtlw

not sure what a 'reptarium' is (hopefully not one of those screen thingies), but I couldn't imagine an enclosure large enough to hold an adult water monitor made of plexiglass. That'd be expensive, impractical to make and difficult to heat.
(Your water monitor will be adult size within those few years).
How about MDF board and FRP? If you do a search of the forum archives, FRP lined enclosures get mentioned a fair bit.

I agree with DK. I think a reptarium is basically screen enclosure. If so, once your little one hits the 3 foot mark or so, I would say he will easily be able to tear out not to mention the heating, humidity and substrate issues. Plexiglass will get scratched up pretty quickly, but if the enclosure is made correctly, I think it could make a decent cage if you don't mind the hazy look the scratches will cause. A suggestion might be to use dark colored plexi for 3 out of the 4 sides as well as the top to help discourage scratching the enclosure. I still think a wood enclosure will be your best bet to create an efficient, cost-effective environment for your monitor. Just my .02. Billy

>>not sure what a 'reptarium' is (hopefully not one of those screen thingies), but I couldn't imagine an enclosure large enough to hold an adult water monitor made of plexiglass. That'd be expensive, impractical to make and difficult to heat.
>>Your water monitor will be adult size within those few years).
>>How about MDF board and FRP? If you do a search of the forum archives, FRP lined enclosures get mentioned a fair bit.

A reptarium is a plastic screen cage with a zipper that fits over plastic tubing. I would not consider it suitable for monitors as they will most likely shred it. There is no suitable way for deep substrate and no way to keep the humidity up in the substrate. Plexiglass scratches and would not hold up well for a large monitor like a water. Many water monitor owners on this forum built their own enclosures, I'm sure they would share their ideas with you. Good Luck!