Sweetloaf
07-03-13, 09:52 PM
First of all, I'd like to thank everyone here for providing copious amounts of pictures, references, advice and other helpful bits of information for me to pour over the past few weeks.
So, let me start off by explaining my situation and how I came to own this lovely little ball of hate, Ezra Pound the Savannah Monitor.
One of my good friends has fallen into the trap of buying WAY too many reptiles at once. This started with a simple Egyptian Uromastyx, then a hatchling Panther Chameleon, and then to my dismay a hatchling Savannah Monitor (for a whopping 15 dollars). The first five months of this guys life was spent in a 20g aquarium with a mesh top and a 75w spot bulb from the petstore. Fast forward to last Friday and now I have a five and a half month old Savannah Monitor in a 50 gallon plastic tote in my bedroom.
Before I get crap for the tote, it's VERY temporary. I have somehow managed to keep the temperature and humidity correct in the tote and through some sort of miracle of science the little guy is doing loads better than when I saw him in the glass tank; he even has a network of burrows!
Now, over the next three weeks I plan on building up a new home for him and I have some questions. I'll also be chronicling the build here as this is my first monitor enclosure and I want to make sure it is absolutely right. So constructively criticize me all you want!
Here are my questions:
1) I've seen a lot of positive reviews for 3M Fiberglass Resin for sealing the wood of the enclosure. I work at Lowe's and we sell it in store. I took a look at it today and it made mention of some sort of liquid hardener but I couldn't find anything around that was labeled as such. So if anyone has any experience with this stuff.. is it actually safe for herps and what is this liquid hardener? The example on the bottle had it repairing a wheelbarrow with a hole rusted into it. :confused:
2) I've seen a lot of OSB used in custom vivs and I have access to it for cheap at my store. I'll use that for the internal walls and regular ply for the external. I plan on building a frame out of 2x2 beams that way I can insulate the walls, floor and roof of the enclosure. Is this correct? I plan on using 3/4in blondewood ply for the internal base and regular ply for the external. Will this hold up to a ton of dirt?
3) One of my friends heard I got the Sav and brought over a massive bag of bamboo leaves to put in the viv once completed. Is this good to use as leaf litter? Seems to be really thin and dry.
4) I have no idea how to put glass into anything and despite my millions of questions for the Windows rep at work I've gotten nowhere. I can get two shower doors that are clearanced for pretty cheap. They're 2 1/2ft by 4ft so they seem perfect for my viv's door.. but I'm clueless with glass. One of my coworkers told me to just build a frame and chisel out a run big enough for them to slide on and that would work, but that seems a bit sketchy to me.
That's all the questions I have for now.. sorry for the massive wall of text. I feel terrible for this little guy and I want him to have a good home to live in, and if i'm on the right track I can start ASAP.
So, let me start off by explaining my situation and how I came to own this lovely little ball of hate, Ezra Pound the Savannah Monitor.
One of my good friends has fallen into the trap of buying WAY too many reptiles at once. This started with a simple Egyptian Uromastyx, then a hatchling Panther Chameleon, and then to my dismay a hatchling Savannah Monitor (for a whopping 15 dollars). The first five months of this guys life was spent in a 20g aquarium with a mesh top and a 75w spot bulb from the petstore. Fast forward to last Friday and now I have a five and a half month old Savannah Monitor in a 50 gallon plastic tote in my bedroom.
Before I get crap for the tote, it's VERY temporary. I have somehow managed to keep the temperature and humidity correct in the tote and through some sort of miracle of science the little guy is doing loads better than when I saw him in the glass tank; he even has a network of burrows!
Now, over the next three weeks I plan on building up a new home for him and I have some questions. I'll also be chronicling the build here as this is my first monitor enclosure and I want to make sure it is absolutely right. So constructively criticize me all you want!
Here are my questions:
1) I've seen a lot of positive reviews for 3M Fiberglass Resin for sealing the wood of the enclosure. I work at Lowe's and we sell it in store. I took a look at it today and it made mention of some sort of liquid hardener but I couldn't find anything around that was labeled as such. So if anyone has any experience with this stuff.. is it actually safe for herps and what is this liquid hardener? The example on the bottle had it repairing a wheelbarrow with a hole rusted into it. :confused:
2) I've seen a lot of OSB used in custom vivs and I have access to it for cheap at my store. I'll use that for the internal walls and regular ply for the external. I plan on building a frame out of 2x2 beams that way I can insulate the walls, floor and roof of the enclosure. Is this correct? I plan on using 3/4in blondewood ply for the internal base and regular ply for the external. Will this hold up to a ton of dirt?
3) One of my friends heard I got the Sav and brought over a massive bag of bamboo leaves to put in the viv once completed. Is this good to use as leaf litter? Seems to be really thin and dry.
4) I have no idea how to put glass into anything and despite my millions of questions for the Windows rep at work I've gotten nowhere. I can get two shower doors that are clearanced for pretty cheap. They're 2 1/2ft by 4ft so they seem perfect for my viv's door.. but I'm clueless with glass. One of my coworkers told me to just build a frame and chisel out a run big enough for them to slide on and that would work, but that seems a bit sketchy to me.
That's all the questions I have for now.. sorry for the massive wall of text. I feel terrible for this little guy and I want him to have a good home to live in, and if i'm on the right track I can start ASAP.