Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Hi folks....

I have started constructing an enclosure for the pair of salvators (ssp.) that I'm going to be acquiring in a week or so.. I have come up with this idea for them, and have decided that I will adapt this to all my tree monitor enclosures as well..

I know from experience in the past, as well as seing friend's experiences with salvator, and they are downright nasty when it comes to their water bowl/tub.... And when it comes to cleaning a large cat litter pan, or cement mixing pan, it can be quite a pain in the ass, and most likely a messy, frustrating ordeal(dirty water splashing all over the place, while you carry it to your sink/toilet/etc..

So far I have only constructed the base and the floor, but I have installed a water basin with a functioning drain.. The valve underneath allows me to simply empty the water basin's contents into a 5 gallon bucket, which is more easily carried to it's dumping drain... With my tree monitors, I will have the drains leading straight outside down into the ground, so no need for a bucket there...

This drain setup for this water monitor cage cost about 30 bucks total, which I think is worth it, when compared to the aggrivation of cleaning a large basin otherwise... The bulkhead's real easy to install, and took about 15 minutes to have everything installed...

Tomorrow I'll work on the walls, and perhaps the framework for the door... I'll post the finished pics when I am done, and it's residents are set up in there.... Thanks for looking, what do you think?

take care everyone,

bob

The Odatriad

here's a top shot of the drain...it stands up no more than 1/16", so it is nearly flush with the basin's bottom.. Cheers,

bob

last pic for now... cheers..

Ours works really well. I use a flexible drain hose that I throw out the door. Other then that, Its the same Idea. Cheers FR

What kind of troughs are those cages made from?
Where did you get them?
Thanks,
Neal
-----
pale reason hides the infinite from us

There wonderful turtle tubs, made by TurtlingPete, in Anahiem Calif. Hes at most of the bigger shows. Or you call look him up and give him a call.

I got some for my son and his turtles, made him a nice rack and then thought, hmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm mertens. They worked better then I could imagine.

Since that pic was taken, I now have fill lines built into the cages. It actually is far easier to clean, then a normal monitor cage without water. Thanks FR

n/p
-----
pale reason hides the infinite from us

I think you should get those damn fine blue tree eggs in a real incubator first off, lol (on the desk to the left)

Nice idea bobby, It looks like you are going to need a ladder to get to the top, lol.

Looking forward to later pics.

cheers, andrew

hahahahahahahaha..... hovabator...heh...

Those are not my eggs in there...hahaha..that is not my place, nor my incubator...I think there's velied chameleon eggs incubating in it.. It is a basement that I have fortunately been allotted the space to keep a pair of waters...

I wouldn't DARE set my macraei eggs up in a hovabator...heheheh.. I don't skimp with them... I've got two digital proportional thermostats hooked up to one another on them, in a custom built incubator...

Anyways, yeah, the cage itself will probably max out around 7' tall.. we'll see how it turns out, as I am pretty much building as I go along...the plan's all up in my head....hahaha... Let's hope i don't botch anything..

Talk to you later,

bob

It appears that the water basin is level with the bottom of the cage. What going to happen to the substrate? if any. Cheers FR

yeah, that's the one problem that I came up with while constructing it... didn't realize until I was done for the day... It's not a big deal, as I can build a framework to raise the basin up, or I can build up a small wall around the basin, as I was thinking about having some rockwork in the cage, I could have a boulder or two built around the basin, keeping most of the substrate out...but they are monitors, they'll find a way to dump it in there anyways.... hence the reason why I chose to use 2" pvc piping, as opposed to 1" or 1.5"....

I do not see it as being a major problem, and is fixable either way... We'll see what I decide on remedying it.... thanks for noticing, I was going to post something about that, but decided it wasn't worth posting.. anyways, there ya go.... Cheers,

finished pics in a few days....

It appears you take very good care of your monitors and feed properly. With that in mind, they will outgrow that water basin, in about two months, with good heat. Good luck FR

I like it. Been contemplating something similar for my tegus. What is the in-tub part of the drain system? Is it an actual pvc drain? The only suggestion I'd have, based on my idea, is to have a hose from the bottom of the drainpipe, so you can set the bucket out where it's easier to reach to pick it up when it's full of water. I don't want to have to try to slide the bucket out and take a chance of splashing water all over. But then, I'm a bit of a klutze with a bad back.

Leslie

Hi Bob,
I did something similar, using a large fiberglassed basin I had built into a cage. My drain took a dogleg to exit through the side of the cage, with a curved nozzle that would let a 5 gal bucket slide beneath. I had another (vertical plumbing) in an even larger cage that led straight to a floor drain via a 3" pvc pipe. I tell ya, floor drains are great.

Both worked OK for a while, but the ball valves started seeping after a few months, and backflushing, etc., did no good. When I took them apart it developed that mouse and rat teeth (which often come through in feces) were just the right shape to lodge against the ball, and hard enough to groove it. I replaced the ball valves with gate-style flat valves, and that solved the problem. I had no appreciable leakage for several years.

With the bucket trick, open the valve slowly. Things may hang fire a bit while the wad of crud builds up speed....

interesting...the ball in the ball joint appears to be of rubber/plastic, so I guess it would be possible for wear and tear as you have experienced...we'll see how it goes...changign the valves shouldn't be a major task, if and when the time comes, as all I need to do is cut the pvc off right before the link, and attach the new one...

good point, worth mentioning, thanks..

bob

I just recently gave my water monitor back to her orginal keeper. After a year of working with her, the one thing that I wish I had figured out was a better way to handle the water. One idea I came up with was to use a 30 gal or larger rubbermaid stock tank. The cool thing about them is the 1 1/2" drain built right into them. I also played with setting up some kind filtration system that would drain, fileter, and pump it back in. My experience has been you can't change the water fast enough (it never fails, you change it, they promptly poop in it ) and for me once a day was a miniumum. This is a pain in the rear considering 20 gal a change. Also, you may find later on that they would appreciate a larger tub, not that there is anything wrong with what your doing.

Good luck to you though and post the finished enclosure pics, I never did get mine the way I wanted it.
-----
hbailey

0.0.1 argus monitor
1.1 butterfly agama (L. Reevesi)

Hi Bob,

I've also been working on a large enclosure for my salvator and considered doing something very close to your idea for drainage with a few minor differences. Like, instead of fitting the entire tub into the floor like you did, i had planned to cut a hole into the floor just large enough for the pvc to fit through, which would also lead down into a bucket of some sort. I also had planned to include a faucet that would be directly over the tub, that could be attached to a water hose(water supply) directly underneath the enclosure for easy filling after draining. I may still include the faucet but wound up purchasing a large wet/dry vac instead of going with the drainage idea.

But yours looks good and hope you have little to no problems with it.

How large of an enclosure are you planning to build for them? Mine is 8' long x 6' tall x 4' wide, i would have like to have made it wider but due to space constraints that is all i was allowed. But its pretty much finished, well put together and insulated anyway. Just need to cut and attach the exterior walls and install the sliding glass doors or plexi( haven't decided).

I'll post pics once its completed. Who knows it may give you some ideas.

Cheers and good luck man!

I'll post some pics once im done s
-----
James Grigsby
Newark,Delaware

Animals Kept include:
0.0.1 Varanus Salvator (Gator)
0.1.3 Varanus Exanthematicus (Adisa "long term captive" other 3 "yet to be named hatchlings"
2.0 Ferrets (Chaos & Kasha)
1.0 Cat (George)

The design looks like it will work great, my concern is that it does not look like it will hold two guys all that long.... what are L x W dimentions as well as the size of the water pan?

Looks ok but as frank mentioned the tub level with the bottom is going to suck.

Also if you build it up make sure they cannot get under the tub or they will pull it up. Full of water or not you'd be amazed.

You may also find your pipes getting clogged, I had tried that method and gave up. I now just went back to pulling tubs and dumping them. The real big ones I use my shop vac on first then pick them up and carry them to be dumped and cleaned. It's more work but I do not mind. Beats having leaking valves or clogged drains.

The only other thing is cage size. You will probly ind them outgrowing that cage quickly. Thats about the only draw back to having these big guys they always outgrow the cages you build.

Good luck with them

Hey Bob,
Looks good, but you might want to build a framework under that tub to support the weight of the water. Once you get some weight in there combined with the heat of the enclosure it's entirely possible the edges will snap off or flex enough for it to slip through the bottom and then WHOOOSH monitor poo everywhere.
Don't you love this forum, we create more work for you, LOL!
Rosy