Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Hello folks,

I just wanted to share with you a technique that I have been using with my tree monitors, that would and has worked for many other species of arboreal, or even arboreal-ish species, including green iguanas, other monitor species, water dragons, basilisks, and bearded dragons..

I have noticed in all of my years of keeping reptiles, is that most keepers(I was once guilty too) fail to acknowledge an invaluable amount of real estate within their own enclosures- the walls!!! It is all too often that I see photos of people's iguana enclosures, or basilisk enclosure, that are bare-walled whether it be plywood, FRP, melamine, or even an aquarium, and I hear them complain that they wish they had more space for a bigger cage for their animals to have..

WHile yes, larger cages may appear better because of the greater volume that a larger cage will provide, however, most people do not know how to use this volume wisely, and keep in mind a larger enclosure just makes it more difficult and expensive to keep it heated and lighted properly, and to maintain proper humidity levels... SO bigger is not necessarily better...

Think about this as a scenario. This was my friend's 5 foot iguana enclosure that I 'fixed' for him. The enclosure measured 6' wide x 3'deep x 7' tall. Excluding the branches in the enclosure, which really don't account for much surface area(animals are limited as to the direction that they can use them-up or down), the total amount of surface area the lizard had to move around freely-not being confined to a narrow 4" branch(can only move up or down it), was the 18 square feet that the floor space provided. His enclosure had 84 square feet of wall space, which I covered with the recycled cork tiles that I use.

Now, as opposed to a measily 18 square feet of usable space, the iguana now has 102 square feet of useable space to move around, which is almost six times as much as what was previously offered.... LOOK AT ALL THAT PRIME REAL ESTATE YOU ARE WASTING BY HAVING SOLID WALLS!!!

Also keep in mind that most keepers do not provide their arboreal lizards with vertically oriented branches. In 99% of all the reptile enclosures that I have seen, climbing branches are only oriented horizontally and diagonally. The truth about arboreal lizards, is that they are going to be using vertical tree trunks much more frequently, than the wispy branches out on the ends of tree limbs, or even the tree limbs branching out from the trunk. Lizards do not have the dexterity of primates and other mammals, where gripping on to narrow branches as they run through the canopy is much more difficult. They are much more at ease and agile on wider trunks and branches(try watching an iguana run up a 24" diameter tree trunk, as opposed to runnign accross a network fo 4" branches/twigs). This is why you find lizards on tree trunks much more frequently than you do on thin tree limbs.. Not to mention that lizards are going to be using tree trunks to move up and down a tree, as opposed to jumping from limb to limb... I feel that this is something that most people do not understand, and unintentionally leave out of their husbandry, which I feel is an important part to an arboreal lizard's husbandry... By not providing them with such situations, you are altering their behavior by not allowing them to do something that they are accustomed to, instead people are forcing their animals to climb on skinny, horizontally branches which more than likely make them more feel more awkward than agile... By having the walls climbable, this husbandry issue is addressed and corrected.

As I have said, this technique has done wonders for my enclosures, and although I cannot communicate with my captives, I am sure that they appreciate the extra usable space, as it seems as if they prefer to use the walls as opposed to the branches I have positioned in the enclosure... as I have just described in the preceding paragraph...I have seen some people use cork flats, or cork tubes to achieve similar effects, but think about the expense it would take to use on most of your enclosures at home. Not to mention, you will almost always have gaps and pockets where the cork backing is not flush against the wall.. These tiles are much cheaper.

In order to cover a 2'x2' area, you would probably need about 4lbs of cork bark flats/tubes, which at about $7/lb, you'r looking at close to $30 bucks.. whereas for a 2'x2' area covered with these tiles, it will cost about less than half that price, and you are able to get attach them nice and flat to the walls no gaps or crevices that need to be filled in, to preven the animal from going behind it and hiding all the time.

I highly recommend that those of you who keep arboreal lizards take this into account, and hopefully this will open your eyes to the negligence of allowing so much space in your cages go to waste... Your animals will benefit/appreciate it...I would also love to hear your feeback, and your opinions/thoughts on what I have said...

Take care friends, and fellow DIYer's.
Cheers, have a wonderful day!!

Bob
MAXIMIZING SURFACE AREA DIY ARTICLE- click here

I think more people should think this way, even for snakes kept in racks. There are ways to increase usable surface area that are often overlooked.

Also wanted to add to you faux-rock post further down. in the early 90's I built several medium to large exhibits for a zoo and did rock work in all of them.

For the 4' cube exhibits I used sheet metal screws and washers to attach lath directly to the plywood walls. For the larger walk-in cages I used Tapcons to attch lath directly to the concrete block walls.

I used hundreds of pounds of concrete in each cage and the lath held fine. Thought you might find that information useful given the recent exchange between you and Matt.
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Current snakes:

0.2 Gonyosoma oxycephala - (Silver/Yellow)

3.3 Gonyosoma oxycephala - (Green)

2.1 Gonyosoma janseni - (Black)

3.3 Gonyosoma janseni - (Black & Tan)

Bob,
I have been thinking about doing exactly what you are talking about. I was thinking of using some cork bulletin board material, but I think I will now use your cork tiles. I also did not like the small particle size of the bulletin board material, and I was worried about possible ingestion, leading to impaction. I did not know a product like this existed. Do you ever have problems with bacteria, mold, or any other little nasties? It seems to me that the tiles would be a perfect breeding ground for bacteria, with the constant high humidity/temperature, and all the little nooks crannies in the cork tiles. How do you clean them? Have you ever had problems with small particles of the cork tiles breaking off? I thank you for your time and await your response. Josh

If your worried about moisture. you can always raise the panels off the back with airspace. using strips of wood etc. make sure to leave a 1/4" at the top and bottom for air flow. a 1/2" behind them would be ideal.

Hi there Josh,

I have never had a problem with bacterial blooms, as the tiles are relatively easy to clean. Because I have no substrate for flooring, and the entire bottom of my enclosures is a drainable water resevoir, I simply spray the walls down, and everything falls down into the bottom, where I simply drain the waste out. I can then go back and spray a detergent such as novalsan on any areas where there were once feces attached to.

These cork tiles do not harbor bacteria, as it is not a highly organic/rich medium for the bacteria to grow in. Now, people who use top soil or potting soil, or even some types of mulches, they are going to be the ones to worry about bacterial problems, as those soils and substrates are full of organic nutrients which allow bacteria to thrive.. As long as you wrinse any feces off the walls, you will not have a problem with bacteria, as it is not an ideal medium for them to grow in.

As far as particles breaking off, I keep highly active tree monitors who are constantly moving all around the walls, etc.. and I have not had any problems with peices breaking off. There will be some debris that is shed from the tiles, as that is just post-production particles that were never adhered together to begin with..

As I said before, i am very pleased with how it has benefitted my animals, and I'm sure it will help other keepers as well.. Use it or lose it, I figured I'd share... Cheers mate,

Bob
TREEMONITORS.COM

>>Hello folks,
>>
>>I just wanted to share with you a technique that I have been using with my tree monitors, that would and has worked for many other species of arboreal, or even arboreal-ish species, including green iguanas, other monitor species, water dragons, basilisks, and bearded dragons..
>>
>>I have noticed in all of my years of keeping reptiles, is that most keepers(I was once guilty too) fail to acknowledge an invaluable amount of real estate within their own enclosures- the walls!!! It is all too often that I see photos of people's iguana enclosures, or basilisk enclosure, that are bare-walled whether it be plywood, FRP, melamine, or even an aquarium, and I hear them complain that they wish they had more space for a bigger cage for their animals to have..
>>
>>WHile yes, larger cages may appear better because of the greater volume that a larger cage will provide, however, most people do not know how to use this volume wisely, and keep in mind a larger enclosure just makes it more difficult and expensive to keep it heated and lighted properly, and to maintain proper humidity levels... SO bigger is not necessarily better...
>>
>>Think about this as a scenario. This was my friend's 5 foot iguana enclosure that I 'fixed' for him. The enclosure measured 6' wide x 3'deep x 7' tall. Excluding the branches in the enclosure, which really don't account for much surface area(animals are limited as to the direction that they can use them-up or down), the total amount of surface area the lizard had to move around freely-not being confined to a narrow 4" branch(can only move up or down it), was the 18 square feet that the floor space provided. His enclosure had 84 square feet of wall space, which I covered with the recycled cork tiles that I use.
>>
>>Now, as opposed to a measily 18 square feet of usable space, the iguana now has 102 square feet of useable space to move around, which is almost six times as much as what was previously offered.... LOOK AT ALL THAT PRIME REAL ESTATE YOU ARE WASTING BY HAVING SOLID WALLS!!!
>>
>>Also keep in mind that most keepers do not provide their arboreal lizards with vertically oriented branches. In 99% of all the reptile enclosures that I have seen, climbing branches are only oriented horizontally and diagonally. The truth about arboreal lizards, is that they are going to be using vertical tree trunks much more frequently, than the wispy branches out on the ends of tree limbs, or even the tree limbs branching out from the trunk. Lizards do not have the dexterity of primates and other mammals, where gripping on to narrow branches as they run through the canopy is much more difficult. They are much more at ease and agile on wider trunks and branches(try watching an iguana run up a 24" diameter tree trunk, as opposed to runnign accross a network fo 4" branches/twigs). This is why you find lizards on tree trunks much more frequently than you do on thin tree limbs.. Not to mention that lizards are going to be using tree trunks to move up and down a tree, as opposed to jumping from limb to limb... I feel that this is something that most people do not understand, and unintentionally leave out of their husbandry, which I feel is an important part to an arboreal lizard's husbandry... By not providing them with such situations, you are altering their behavior by not allowing them to do something that they are accustomed to, instead people are forcing their animals to climb on skinny, horizontally branches which more than likely make them more feel more awkward than agile... By having the walls climbable, this husbandry issue is addressed and corrected.
>>
>>As I have said, this technique has done wonders for my enclosures, and although I cannot communicate with my captives, I am sure that they appreciate the extra usable space, as it seems as if they prefer to use the walls as opposed to the branches I have positioned in the enclosure... as I have just described in the preceding paragraph...I have seen some people use cork flats, or cork tubes to achieve similar effects, but think about the expense it would take to use on most of your enclosures at home. Not to mention, you will almost always have gaps and pockets where the cork backing is not flush against the wall.. These tiles are much cheaper.
>>
>>In order to cover a 2'x2' area, you would probably need about 4lbs of cork bark flats/tubes, which at about $7/lb, you'r looking at close to $30 bucks.. whereas for a 2'x2' area covered with these tiles, it will cost about less than half that price, and you are able to get attach them nice and flat to the walls no gaps or crevices that need to be filled in, to preven the animal from going behind it and hiding all the time.
>>
>>
>>I highly recommend that those of you who keep arboreal lizards take this into account, and hopefully this will open your eyes to the negligence of allowing so much space in your cages go to waste... Your animals will benefit/appreciate it...I would also love to hear your feeback, and your opinions/thoughts on what I have said...
>>
>>Take care friends, and fellow DIYer's.
>>Cheers, have a wonderful day!!
>>
>>Bob
>>MAXIMIZING SURFACE AREA DIY ARTICLE- click here

HI Bob, how ya doing. Nice post, i started doing this awhile ago with glass tanks. Another advantage to doing this is corks insulating abilities. I couldn't quote r-factors, but i've noticed a more stable temp range when used with glass tanks. I noticed that you use the less refined version, much more natural look. The tiles even come with their own double sided sticky tabs. Heres a tip for you, silicone 4-5 together and take some improvised sculpting tools (razors, drywall saw, course rasp, you know what i'm talking about) and have at it. With a little work a person can make a really nice back ground. I like your point about the really big enclosures with 1-2 branchs. There is so much lost space in most peoples enclosures. I'm glad you post this stuff and make it available to others. Congrats on all your sucess with your tree monitors, if i had the time for lizards i would be working right along with you. Clint
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0.1 Colombian Boa
1.0 Hogg Isle Boa
1.0 Brazilian Rainbow Boa
0.1 Argentine Boa
0.0.2 Green Tree Python (Biak & Sorong type)

Hello Clint,

Yes, I have done some experimenting with layering the tiles, and have achieved some nice effects.. However, because of the quantity of enclosures that i have, and the number of animals, I am not necessarily going for aesthetics, but more for functionality...

I also like these tiles much better than the typical corkboard grade cork.. This has more texture to it, and doesn't look as 'manufactured' as the finer grade cork tiles. These do not have adhesive backing, however they are very easily attached with silicon or screws(I choose screws so that they can be reused and detached if I were to change around an enclosure).

Thanks for your post. It's good to hear other people are using a similar technique... Space is too valuable to waste when it comes to our animals' enclosures...

Cheers,

Bob
TREEMONITORS.COM