Reptile & Amphibian Forums

How would you think an all glass enclosure would do for tree monitors, all except the top and of course the bottom, which would be a plastic tub type?

I have a bunch of basicaly 7 x 3.5 foot nice semi tinted glass i just picked up, it will be in the house(temp average 70ish) what watt bulb you think id need?

Thanks

if they are imported tree monitors I wouldn't go that route.They will be able to see to much and stress themselves even if you have alot of furnishings in the cage.

If they are calm and tolerant of seeing people, then it shouldn't be a problem. It will just be a matter of how you furnish the cage and set it up.

All the cage is really is a box. All that box has to do is retain the things needed for the monitor. If it does this then it will work.
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"Don't just use something because you read it worked, use that something because it does work. If you are to listen to anyone listen to your monitor."

I figured the all glass may freek them out, especialy with new imported WC, thanks.

Hey there,

I personally feel that glass terraria are one of the worst choices for tree monitors, or all monitors for that point, regardless of temperature and humidity levels are maintained properly or not... There are many other factors which play an important role in health, especially with WC individuals, not accustomed to life in captivity. Some of the issues that I have with glass enclosures:

1) They offer no security. Being as high strung and nervous as most monitors are, especially tree monitors, they need as much security as possible. Having 360 degrees of see through glass does not offer any visual blinds or barriers to give the animal a sense of security. Even if you are standing 20 feet away from the tank, the movement and commotion will still upset the animal, as it has a clear view of whatever's going on in the room. Compare this to an enclosure who only has a glass/see throughh front. I suppose glass would still work in this situation, if it was blacked out, but wouldn't work for the other reason why I do not favor glass.

2) Tree Monitors are climbers- their name says it all, as does their behavior if they are set up properly. It upsets me to see people(I used to be one of these people myself) set up their tree monitors in an enclosure furnished withh only a few logs or branches on the inside. Regardless of how spacious, volume-wise the enclosure is, the animals will not use 95% of it, as they are confined to the floor and the measily few branches in there.

I have found that in my experience with experimenting with what my tree monitors prefer, that they will spend the majority of their time in a vertical position, if given the opportunity to. Most people, when setting up enclosures put branches horizontally or diagonally oriented. While this is fine to include, you are leaving out one important dimension.

Look at trees, and how the trunk of a tree grows-vertically. They are going to be utilizing vertical trunks moreso than horizontal branches in their daily travels, as they move from the upper canopy down to the lower branches, and even the ground. Now that I mention it, it is actually rather rare to come across a diagonal trunk or branch, unless you encounter a tree or branch which has snapped or fallen, and is being propped up on one side by another tree. Branches/limbs typically grow horizontally, and trunks grow vertically. But yet, people always choose to do the diagonal orientation, and omit the vertical dimension. Which leads me to my point.

Tree monitors- all monitors will use vertical climbing areas. I choose to offer as muchh space in my enclosures as possible for them to use. Therefore, i cover the walls with a climbable material. Not only does this triple(at least) the total amount of climbable surface area, it also allows for a greater range of motion, as opposed to the diagonally up or diagonally down, or side to side motion. My monitors can use the walls to avoid one another, reach different tiers/levels within the cage, or to get to their different hiding spots.

So I feel that the cage walls are very valuable real estate and should used to offer as much usable area as possible. Remember, we are drastically confining what their natural territory/range would be by sticking them in a 'box'. Why not try to offer as much as possible, as opposed to the minimum??

Along with covering the walls of the enclosure with climbable material, I also mount tight fitting cork tubes(cut into sections-not a complete tube, more like 1/3 of a tube), so that it forms sort of a hollow tree trunk cavity. On each 'trunk' I have several different crevices and different entrance points. They have many different hide spots that are located at different heights in the cage, offering slightly differing temperatures. There is also several within each enclosure, so that the two animals would not have to share one(having choices). I typically create four of these 'tree trunks' and orient them in each corner of the enclosure. While I suppose that you could still use glass for this, i think you would have a difficult time mounting any usable material to it that would hold up to the abuse the monitors would put it through. With theh cork tiles I use for the walls, i screw them into place, as opposed to siliconing them, as the nails of the monitors eventually wear out the tiles, and they will need to be replaced. By screwing them into place, this creates a much cleaner and easier method of removing the old, and replacing the area with a new tile..

This is just what I have seen in my experience.. I am quite fond of my current setups, as they are relatively inexpensive, functional, and even a bit aesthetically pleasing. I just do not like how 'unflexible' glass or similar materials are when designing a cage that works for tree monitors. I feel that they need every square inch of the enclosure to be usable, and I feel that this really can't be acheived easily with glass.

Just my thoughts on the matter.... I hope this helps, or gives some insight into how I keep my animals. I am in the process of taking some new photos of all my enclosures, as I noticed that I did not have any photos of my own enclosures up on my website. There are many other photos of other people's caging, especially the european keepers, and you will see that most of them use a similar method to mine(i got the idea from a fellow European keeper). Sorry for such a long post, when i get started, i can talk for hours... I hope some of this makes sense to some people... Take care, have a wonderful day!

Bob
treemonitors.com

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TheOdatriad

I was considering the all glass, up until your 2 posts.

I always look forward to sharing my experiences with others, and vice a versa.. What species is this cage going to be for??

Cheers,

Bob
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TheOdatriad

Green tree, but i havent ordered them yet.

Cool. They are definately a beautiful species, and one of my personal favorites. Best of luck with whatever you choose to get.... Take lots of photos when you do... I always enjoy seeing photos of V. prasinus... Take care,

Bob
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TheOdatriad

They come over in very poor shape so be ready.
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"Don't just use something because you read it worked, use that something because it does work. If you are to listen to anyone listen to your monitor."

I used to bring them in but id only keep them under a month, id bring in a thousand house gecko's as food for them till i sold them as i found they gobbled them up even when they were in bad shape(when other foods they tended to ignore), is that still a common food source to get them started up or do you concentrate mostly on husbandry alone.

picky eaters wouldn't last to long in the wild IMO. So I pass the buck onto husbandry.

Finding the cause usually fixes that problem even with snakes. I find if I change things with the setup around they will eat darn near anything. Except maybe pizza but hey my monitors would probly eat it. haha

Now look what I did I will probly get slammed with everyone saying you cant give them pizza your so dumb. they cannot digest the breading and the starch gives them gas. haha

Anyways if they are being picky redo the setup, more hides, more branches, different types, temps, humidty all that good stuff. Now hoever if they will not eat no matter what then of course change the food dont let them die. I am sure you know this but some newbie might be reading.

My beccari feast on, anoles, geckos, birds, eggs, rodents, insects.

Bob can probly add a little more info. to this as well. It's always good to hear others take on the subject. Gives others more options to choose from.
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"Don't just use something because you read it worked, use that something because it does work. If you are to listen to anyone listen to your monitor."

hahaha... good post Jody.

I too agree that stubborn feeders is usually attributed to husbandry, but more so the condition in which they arrive. In 99% of imports, they are very severely dehydrated. I hold off on feeding for at least a week, sometimes several weeks, until I am confident that the animal is properly hydrated. I think feeding a very dehydrated animal, even if it eats on its own, only causes more problems.

When I get in a skinny, dehydrated tree monitor, as with all of my new aquisitions, I set them up in individualized quarantine enclosures, where they are given high humidity levels 85-95%, and sprayed several times a day. It is imperative that the animals start drinking on their own. THis is what I look out for the first couple of weeks or so after receiving them.

Dehydration is the biggest issue with these guys. Once the hydration problem is fixed, the animal should come around eating without a problem. I have noticed that female tree monitors are a bit more picky in the food that they initially select. In most cases, I had to do a bit of weaning females onto rodents, as they would not accept them from the start. In this case, I would take fuzzies and mix them around in a batch of ground turkey. The scent from the turkey usually rubs off on the fuzzy, and is readily taken. I have also found that when mice are not taken, that rat pinkies will sometimes work as an alternative...and from there, you can wean them on to mice from the rat pinks...

But all in all, I believe that the problem/pickiness that most people experience with these guys is due to dehydration. That is the first obstacle which must be tackled in my opinion, if you are to guarantee the success of the captive/s.

Cheers, have a good one,

Bob
treemonitors.com

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TheOdatriad