Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I beginning to build a bigger permanent cage for my juv BT, and i notice in earlier posts, people have built the base of the cages that are a few inches above ground-level...May i ask any particular reason for this??? :-/
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2.2.0 RES (Bowser, Angela, Leo, April)
1.0.0 V. Albigularis (Godzilla)
1.0.0 Z. Quadrilineatus (Yago)
1.0.0 Python Regius (Kaa)
1.0.0 Cat (Garfield)

I don't know about others, my cage is closer to the ground cause i let my bt have free roam of my master bedroom, and also it's easier access lower to the ground. my cage is 6x4x30in and it has a sliding glass front, the side of the cage the entire side opens up for easier cleaning and providing a sort of ramp for my bt to head into the room and the top of the cage has a door for better reach of the lights. yet i have a friend who has Water monitor that is over 5ft and his cage is 6x6x3 that stands tall with one access door to it. so I think it's rather more personal preference then a certain reason for it.

The reason enclosures should be raised off the ground is that outside temperatures are constantly radiating through the floor.

I find that when my cages sit directly on the floor the substrate loses heat into the floor. This is on concrete in my basement so the floor stays pretty cool. Nesting temps were much too low in the substate so I raised them off the floor. By raising them I didn't require any aditional heat to keep the substrate in a better range of temps.

Steve

He is right about the heat loss. I always elevate the floor of all my enclosures to get them off the ground. You can't imagine how much heat a cold floor can can suck out of a cage. Not to mention your lizard might be laying in one of these cold areas if they aren't provided a way to get off the cage floor. I was in the Marines and I remember laying on the ground at night and feeling the cold ground just sucking the heat out of me. The military issues a small foam mat called an Iso-mat. This prevents heat loss and a little more comfort. It seriously reduced the cold that penatrated my body on real cold nights. So my point in that is I have personally experienced the heat loss many times from cold ground. Think about walking barefoot into the kitchen tile floor, your feet get cold real fast! I like to explain things a little more to people so that they can relate to what the lizard is experiencing. So, to sum it up your lizard will appreciate some elevation off the floor.