Reptile & Amphibian Forums

My friend gave his water monitor to a zoo, so I got this cage from him. It measures 7'x2'x4'. It's not the most attractive tank, but it serves its purpose.

In this pic she is on the "middle floor" on the two rocks.

Here she is hiding at the bottom level

Now that she has so much room, I might get another plated or two to go in with her

Hope you liked the pics!

Adam
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My pic gallery

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The new cage should be great for the two big guys. I would just change two things. First, I would lose the majority of the screen and replace it with glass or plexi-it will hold heat and humidity much more efficiently. The only other thing I would change is the substrate. Even though your validus arent as strong burrowers as your Quadrilineatus were, they still like to dig, so at the least give them an area with a good layer of dirt and sand.
But its a heck of a lot of space for them, which is great.
Are you liking these guys more than your zonosaurs?
Paul

Thanks Paul! I've only got the one female in there right now, but that may change soon As for the screen, well I was under the impression that this species didn't need much humidity? and the slate pieces at the basking spot on top hold the heat very well, even awhile after the light is turned off. After keeping this girl on dirt and sand for about 4 months I had come to the conclusion that they didn't dig at all, she did push herself under pieces of driftwood but thats it and she can still do that in this cage. And yes I am enjoying her more then the quadrilineatus pair, she is more calm and is more visible in her cage.
Adam

>>The new cage should be great for the two big guys. I would just change two things. First, I would lose the majority of the screen and replace it with glass or plexi-it will hold heat and humidity much more efficiently. The only other thing I would change is the substrate. Even though your validus arent as strong burrowers as your Quadrilineatus were, they still like to dig, so at the least give them an area with a good layer of dirt and sand.
>>But its a heck of a lot of space for them, which is great.
>>Are you liking these guys more than your zonosaurs?
>>Paul

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My pic gallery

For some reason I thought you had gotten a pair of validus, sorry
but yeah, even though humidity doesnt appear to be real important with these guys, I always worry about drafts and keeping specific temps and such. Thats the only reason I harp on sealing it up. I am more of a teiid person myself, and I know that although tegus will tolerate a really wide variety of humidity, that they will do best in a higher humidity, even when their environment doesnt dictate it. So I always make sure I can control those values as efficiently as possible.
As for the digging, to me its all about just giving them the options to do so. Even if your validus never uses it, at least she has the option. Also, allowing them to burrow through a natural dirt substrate seems to keep their scales glossy. I believe it was Ingo Kober who on another forum mentioned that he noticed this in his G. flavigularis (or maybe it was a nigrolineatus, I dont remember) but after seeing this I prompted a friend of mine to try it with his nigrolineatus, and he had similar results-while they will get dirty, their scales appear more glossy, and they seem to really enjoy the tunnels they have made. But of course, thats just my opinion.
Paul

>>For some reason I thought you had gotten a pair of validus, sorry
>>but yeah, even though humidity doesnt appear to be real important with these guys, I always worry about drafts and keeping specific temps and such. Thats the only reason I harp on sealing it up. I am more of a teiid person myself, and I know that although tegus will tolerate a really wide variety of humidity, that they will do best in a higher humidity, even when their environment doesnt dictate it. So I always make sure I can control those values as efficiently as possible.
>>As for the digging, to me its all about just giving them the options to do so. Even if your validus never uses it, at least she has the option. Also, allowing them to burrow through a natural dirt substrate seems to keep their scales glossy. I believe it was Ingo Kober who on another forum mentioned that he noticed this in his G. flavigularis (or maybe it was a nigrolineatus, I dont remember) but after seeing this I prompted a friend of mine to try it with his nigrolineatus, and he had similar results-while they will get dirty, their scales appear more glossy, and they seem to really enjoy the tunnels they have made. But of course, thats just my opinion.
>>Paul
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My pic gallery