Reptile & Amphibian Forums

its 3'x4'x3'

Hello,

The cage looks roomy, you may want to add some larger pieces of wood/logs/driftwood/blasted grapevine, etc... in there so he can utilize the height of the cage while he's still young and agile. Also I would recomend either adding a hood to that light fixture or switching out the bulb to some sort of flood light. Standard 40w/60w/75w house bulbs will warm the cage but you want a gradient. A very warm hot spot where he can bask, and a much cooler cool end of the cage.

What kind of ventilation do you have in the cage? Any thermostats?

hasta,
J

I have holes drilled all over on the top and i dont have a thermosate.

Well step one, either order yourself a thermo gun from Pro Exotics/they're pretty affordable. And in the mean time until it arrives buy some sort of thermostat.. even if it's just a cheap plastic stick on one from the pet store. You NEED to know how hot the cage is, to know if you're doing things right. If you wait for the lizard to show you signs that you're doing something wrong then it's 10 times the work to fix the problems and get the monitor healthy again. Just my $0.02 though.

J

I think he meant thermometer when he said thermostat. Thermometers measure temperatures, thermostats control temperatures (in conjunction with a heat source or cool source).

If you have a wooden lid with holes drilled in it, you should consider replacing the lid with a solid one and drilling a few ventilation holes in the lower sides of the enclosure. Heat rises and takes humidity with it, right up through those holes in the top.

You should also consider changing the substrate at some stage. While shredded newspaper may be clean and dry, it is too dry and also doesn't allow your monitor to do what it adapted to do: dig. Deep dirt is good for this.

I noticed that both of your monitor's hide logs appear to be heated. Once you have dirt in there instead of newspaper your monitor will probably dig its own hide spots, but in the meantime you should have some hide spots that aren't heated. Even a flat bit of board that it can squeeze under.

If you have a wooden lid with holes drilled in it, you should consider replacing the lid with a solid one and drilling a few ventilation holes in the lower sides of the enclosure. Heat rises and takes humidity with it, right up through those holes in the top.

ITS NOT A LID I HAVE A DOOR ON THE SIDE OF IT.MY UNCLE MADE IT FOR ME FOR CHIRSTMAS.

are the holes on the top of the cage or on the sides?

Hey DK,

Thanks for pointing that out. Both were things I had considered adressing although I didn't want to overwhelm him all at once. Also my bad on the Thermostat/Thermometer....Brain doesn't work sometimes/ most of the time.. lol

haha, not a problem. No harm done.

there on top.they said the wood was made that way.

any chance of replacing that wood at some stage with a solid piece and putting holes in the lower sides? If not, keep this in mind when you build its next, larger, enclosure.