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I decided to go with Joe Lewis' idea. it has a pan in the bottom that is 30" x 30" and 9 inches deep. i will fill that up with a laying substrate. the rest will have 2 inches of sand and lots of furniture (hides, climbing, etc). it has a bank of bulbs wired into the left hand side. the hole going into the pan which is removable from front and back is 2" x 2". it is air tight from the front and back and sides, so the pils can't get out from the pan. I like the way this cage looks and i think they will use it well, time will tell.

i will post pics again when it is setup. who knows when i will actually get around to posting more pics though, lol.

(ps: the builder took these pics at his place, this is the first time he has built this cage)

andrew

here you go

Although I didn't use a tub of any sort. I just put the dirt in. Top opening I assume? The center enclosure opens on the right side.

to clear a few things up. it has two vents. the hole is actually 2.5" x 2.5". i found a european link written in dutch i believe (so i have no idea what it says) that showed some cool stacks that were covered with a decorative something or other. i am going to try and duplicate that. the idea is for this to become a prototype for all my dwarf monitor cages. the biggest part i am not quite weary about is the pan for laying. if this becomes problematic i will yank that idea and go back to the hole bottom being a nesting area. i am just trying to learn like all of you and sometimes you have to do things differently to do so. like i said though, the cage is not my idea, somebody else uses it.
i think it would be fun to go all out on this. if anybody has any serious ideas for cage furniture, i am all ears. pils don't seem to have the capability to trash a cage like lets say my argus do. has anybody found any leads on australian grasses? i went to a major portland, oregon nursery and they couldn't find anything.

lmk on ideas, etc. andrew

The ground cover is mostly spinifex where they live. FR

yeah, that is what i was looking for in portland. is there another common name that nurserys might know it by? the nursery i went to is quite large. i can also go up to seattle.

andrew

andrew,

If I'm not mistaken, spinifex is a very nasty, spiny, sharp grass that most animals/people avoid coming in contact with. I don't think that any nursery/grower would be propagating it, just due to the fact that it would make a poor landscape plant, at least for most practical uses. I searched around as well for similar plants, but to no avail... Perhaps there may be some kind of substitute... Being a plant dork, I'll try and find something which may be similar..I'll let you know if I find one... take care andrew..

bob

Once I sat in amazement watching a camel eating spinifex like it was something great.

I believe the important task spinifex does is, first, its roots hold loose sand and dirt from small monitors to burrow in, and second, its a little stickery. It may discourage a predator(protection).

Its nothing like many of our cactus, and does not bother me at all. Its kinda like Tumbleweed(Russian Thistle) only short.

You may consider that the plants that monitors assoiate with must have a use. Some provide shelter, some provide humid areas, some provide protection. Some provide food, primarily and secondarily. But they only use them for their use. FR