Dino (My blackthroat)

[Ivan (NL)]

http://img36.exs.cx/img36/3035/v24om.jpg

http://img152.exs.cx/img152/8730/dino19bo.jpg

http://img36.exs.cx/img36/4156/v12tf.jpg

http://img9.exs.cx/img9/9048/Dino1.jpg

and the little female:

http://img59.exs.cx/img59/3778/mini8.jpg

http://img59.exs.cx/img59/2639/mini7.jpg

[V.hb]

nice albig!!

[beanersmysav]

Very nice monitors :)

[ATBlover]

hey nice tank and are u using slate for him to lie on?...i guess it gets hot with the light on it eh!...hmm thats a good idea...Connor

[Ivan (NL)]

Originally posted by ATBlover
hey nice tank and are u using slate for him to lie on?...i guess it gets hot with the light on it eh!...hmm thats a good idea...Connor

I don't know wat slate is ;)

Under the light bulbs are stone plate's that become pretty hot. The big one has 50/55 degrees celcius and the little one about 40 at the plates. The little one also has one place warmer than the other. One she uses in the morning (the hottest) and the other one during the day.

[ATBlover]

slate is a type of rock....which look slike that and thats why i said it because slate heats up and holds heat very well....good idea tho...make sure its not tooo hot....Connor

[Rikki]

Very nice, great setup! :)

[Princesssss]

The slate or rock would also in a way file down the nails a bit wouldnt it? Walking over it all the time...

[crocdoc]

Hate to rain on the parade after everyone telling you what a great setup you have, but I hope you don't mind me saying that I see a couple of issues with your setup. You're probably going to take this the wrong way, but my intentions aren't bad and I'm thinking only in terms of the animals' health. Yes, they are very clean and pristine looking enclosures. Unfortunately, those setups would be a better way to keep snakes than monitors, in the long term.

The female will need an entirely different setup once she starts cycling and laying eggs (if she hasn't started yet). There's no place for her to dig (wrong substrate, not deep enough even if it were). Given enough food, she'll eventually cycle, too, and will frantically look for a place to lay her eggs, even if infertile. Without a suitable spot, she could hold the eggs in, become egg bound and all sorts of problems will then ensue. I presume you have a pair because you'd like to breed them at some stage.

Having vents at the top of the enclosure will add to the problem by producing humidity/hydration issues. Heat rises, taking humidity with it, and without ample substrate to hold some humidity the air quickly dries out.

Those spotlights you are using give a very focused beam and you'd be better off using floodlights - at least a couple for each basking spot so the animals' whole body is covered. You may need to lower the fittings to maintain your basking spot temperatures, but problems ensue if the animal can only bask part of its body at a time.

The last issue I have is my own personal bias and one that I see in enclosure shots on this and other forums all of the time: that is a lack of cage 'furniture'. i.e. No logs to climb, nothing to dig under, nothing of interest at all for the monitors. They are intelligent animals and love to explore. Those pristine, furniture-free enclosures are great for keeper ease and suit ambush predators like pythons that tend not to get around much if well fed, but in my opinion monitors need something more.

[kap10cavy]

http://www.repticzone.net/images/3253/000_0069.JPG

There is a 4 foot plus blackthroat in there somewhere.
He has 3 different burrows. His favorites is under the log in the back. There is 6 inches of dirt in the front, back is closer to 2 feet deep.

Scott

[crocdoc]

Yes, that's more like it. Side opening, lots of furniture, diggable dirt. Looks like you even have three basking lights in there (two floodlights and an infrared), is that right?

[kap10cavy]

Yup, the lights can be pulled from the top. The infared comes out once it warms up. Sitting by the window, the infared keeps things nice and toasty. If it gets too hot, down he goes. it's nice and cool in the burrows.
Now tell me, what are woodies and yabbies?

Scott

[Jeff_Favelle]

That first setup must be PURE torture for that monitor. You do know that monitors like/need to DIg, don't you?

Poor lizard.

[Tim and Julie B]

kap10cavy that is a sweet cage.

Ivan those are some great looking blk throats you are lucky my wht throught would go for my hand if I came anywhere near her. LOL

[Ciddian]

Black throats gott abe my fav monitor...

Andrew! i still love yours! lol ^^

[V.hb]

Scott, thats a SWEET setup you have there.

How do you keep it warmer towards the bottom? Do you use any kind of heat from below?

Damn cold floors here in Canada, makes it difficult, Even if i use insulation it still gets pretty cold the lower they dig.

Have any pics of the front?

[crocdoc]

Originally posted by kap10cavy
Now tell me, what are woodies and yabbies?
Scott

Ha ha, Scott, you must have read my post to Spike. Woody is the local (ie Australian) name for lobster roaches (wood roaches ----> woodies), yabby is the local name for freshwater crayfish (what you'd probably call crawdads). Yabby usually refers to a particular species, Cherax destructor, but can also apply to the group in general. The true yabby isn't particularly huge, probably the size of the ones you have in the US, but some of the other species get HUGE - including a few of the largest species in the world which can way several pounds.

[kap10cavy]

Well V.hb, since I live in Alabama, I really don't have that problem.
If I did, I would probally run strips of heat tape under the cage.
And For Dave, Yes us poor hillbillies here in Alabama do call them crawdads.
I am going this weekend to pic up some deathheads.
My wife had a fit when the cat knocked over the lobster roaches.
I have to get non climbing roaches now.
Women.......... HMMPHHHH

Scott