pics of sav enclosures

[Bartman]

I put dirt in my sav's enclosure and i want to compare it to the type of dirt you guys use in your tanks, if you do...so just post pics of your enclosures that have a good shot of the floor...

Thanks!

[V.hb]

bartman, no good pics of my savannahs enclosure at the moment..... But i have a shot of my argus when it was smaller on some dirt.. I would imagine its similiar to yours.
Its not so much its appearance either, dirt looks different all around, you just want to make sure it holds a burrow. Usually, standard is dry on top and moister towards the bottom.

heres my Argus on some dirt.

http://www.ssnakess.com/photopost/data/500/1000argus.JPG

[Bartman]

Yea i wanted a picture of dirt because im not sure if mine can hold a burrow..it looks exactly like yours. I wont be sure until my sav burrow's and really, he seems like he couldnt care less lol. Should i leave him or what?

[V.hb]

remember, hes never been on dirt.. so its wierd to them... how hard is the dirt? my savannahs took a bit of time to begin burrowing (once the heat lamps dried out the surface)

[Bartman]

Yea i just changed it all yesterday, so ill give him a week i guess..should i mist the cage at all or no?

Also, he runs through his water dish a lot and gets mud on him..does that matter at all? I guess im a clean freak :p

[V.hb]

no it doesnt matter at all, just keep it clean if he soils it.

The dirt has probably already boosted the humidity in the enclosure right? Misting is up to you, it depends on your conditions. You don't want bone dry as you know, ans you also don't want swampy marshlike conditions.

Got any pics?

[Bartman]

unfortunatly my parents are on vacation..well their supposed to come back today, but i have nooo idea when..so im really just waiting for them to come home! I also want to take pics of my new corns :)

[reptiguy123]

I could use a vacation.

Is it plain dirt, or did you add sand and clay yet?


As always, good luck with that sav!:)

[Bartman]

should i add sand or clay? well theirs probably already clay because i dug pretty deep, but i tired not to get to much clay at all..figured it was bad...

[Bartman]

HERE IT IS :D I got my cam this morning..im so happy with the new tank!

Now im just looking for tons of decor to put in as it looks really plain. Theirs my sav basking too :)
http://www.ssnakess.com/photopost/data/500/1953sav_in_new_dirt_tank.JPG

I couldnt put an even amount of dirt because the temps were going to high, so i figured he can make burrows on one end at least..i put some cork and slate rock on the left side and he already dug a little den out for himself :)

[V.hb]

Adam, It looks good, but i would add more dirt. Thats pretty shallow, would be difficult to burrow in. You can add a bit of sand to it if you want, sometimes makes it a bit softer.. Clay is pretty useless to add more of.. I think our soil has alot of clay in it already. If you find the temps going too high, lessen the wattage of your bulb.

[Bartman]

Will do! Thanks!

[dean_h00]

I wanna post a pic in this thread but i can never seem to figure out how to do it
a lil help would be great;)
thanx

[V.hb]

upload your photos into the ssnakess.com photo gallery which is simple. Then just type [ img]photo[ /img] (no spaces between the ['s) In place of photo put in the link to your photo.

[dean_h00]

Here is one of my savannahs enclosures it is not fully complete. Soon I am going to increase the height of the lower ledge so i can put at least 8" of dirt in so she can burrow but for now she is content:). Hope you all like...:)

http://www.ssnakess.com/photopost/showphoto.php?photo=23306&password=&sort=1&cat=500&page=1
If auto link doesnt work click here
Wedgeys house (http://www.ssnakess.com/photopost/showphoto.php?photo=23306&password=&sort=1&cat=502&page=1)

[Bartman]

http://www.ssnakess.com/photopost/data/502/3360wedgey_004-med.jpg

here you go, you have to right clikc on the pic and copy the URL into the image tags

Thats a beautiful enclosure though! Just i think the basking spot should be a more "spot" lol...try and make the basking site so they can hide underneath and still warm up.

[Bartman]

He/she should also have a retreat, i see you have 2 bulbs...is that just their as a low to get steady temps?


And one more question :) does your sav take advantage of those elevations..they look like a great idea, but will mine use it?

[dean_h00]

if you look under the rocks she has a retreat there she loves it under there (in other words there is nothing under the rocks they are propped up by other rocks, therefor one of her 2 retreats is in fact under her basking spot) and as well over toward the other end she has an underground rock which she like to curl up in as well. and there are 2 lights to ensure propper temps throught the hole cage, the red (night heat bulb) stays on 24/7 and the white heat lamp and UVB bulb are both on timers and are on a 14 hour on 10 hour off schedule...
And about the elevations, it really depends on the animal she does use it but not very often, most savs willl venture up there once in a while out of curiosity but i mainly have it there to give the cage some depth and to keep her budy when she feels like roaming.

[V.hb]

Good job Dean.

[NewLineReptile]

Adam is that teddy bear bobing for apples or somthing....lol

Nice set you got going for your sav..:)

Brandon

[Bartman]

LOL, no i was watching the sav eat and i needed something to sit on..the bucket hurt my *** so i used the bear for cushioning :p no joke!

[justinO]

Here is my sav's enclosure. but a few things first. 1) he does not burrow. before i moved a few months ago, he was kept on a deep layer of dirt and he never burrowed, so when i moved to the apartment, i only gave him a few inches of substrate because anything more would be unused, and a pain in the butt to carry up a few flights of stairs. 2) the glass on the left side broke, so it's been taped together and is working perfectly until i can get around to buying some new glass. This weekend I'll be adding a second hide spot.

for size reference, the aquarium on the top is a 20 gallon with a few pet gerbils.

enjoy

Justin
http://ssnakess.com/photopost/data/500/1849enclosure.jpg

[NewLineReptile]

JustinO.......... is that a feeder tank on top Do you keep feeder mice in there with your herps?

Brandon

[Bartman]

He said their pet gerbals...

I think you should move those incase of an escape :eek: and also because it could be anoying for your sav. He smells food but hes not getting any!

[crocdoc]

Originally posted by justinO
Here is my sav's enclosure. but a few things first. 1) he does not burrow. before i moved a few months ago, he was kept on a deep layer of dirt and he never burrowed, so when i moved to the apartment, i only gave him a few inches of substrate because anything more would be unused, and a pain in the butt to carry up a few flights of stairs. Justin
http://ssnakess.com/photopost/data/500/1849enclosure.jpg

Sounds to me like you provided your savannah with unsuitable dirt for burrowing (yes, dirt varies) and have jumped to the conclusion that it just doesn't burrow.

Savannah monitors are burrowers. It's what they do. You should make sure its next enclosure has the capacity for a deep substrate (its current enclosure clearly doesn't) and experiment with dirt from different areas until you get it right. Both you and your monitor will benefit from the behavioural enrichment. It will do natural things like dig and you will get to see some interesting behaviour.

[V.hb]

From what ive read on daniel bennets site, savs seem to prefer softer, sandier dirt. I got some of my normal local dirt, and mixed in playsand, he uses it well, has a nice burrow dug that he retreats to every night. Try and keep it dry on the top and damper on the bottom.. Never have a layer of sludge on the top. When i moisten my substrates I usually give it a spray every few days to ensure it doesnt dry into dust. In a well made enclosure it doesnt take much to keep it in good order.

[justinO]

that is just a few pet gerbils as i said... the feeders are in the rat room. If i had room in the snake room, the enclosure would go in there, but due to the layout of our apartment, the sav had to go in the living room.

If we can find another place for the gerbils, then we will. I've not noticed any change in the sav's behaviour since putting the gerbils on top of his enclosure. his feeding response is the same.. I'm not worried.

[exotic_66]

OMG V.HB .....that is an AWESOME pic of Argus it looks really cool and nice enclosure Bartman ;)

~nessy~

[justinO]

Crocdoc, I neglected to mention that I have tried various mixtures of dirt/sand/cypress mulch, etc etc.. I hand dug some burrows (tests) and they held well. This paticular animal just doesn't appear to be a digger. I had another sav (temporarily) that I had on the exact same mixture (in another enclosure) would dig and burrow. I agree, it was rather interesting to watch.

when finances allow, I will be adding in a nice deep litter dam and modify the enclosure so it will be able to hold a suitable amount of substrate, and look more natural.

[Bartman]

thanks ness, that damn enclosure made me sweat today...i had to haul another ton of dirt from downstairs all the way up, bucket by bucket! not to fun!

[reptiguy123]

But it really paid off!:)