Stealth Rudi

[smy_749]

Fed my rudi 2 fuzzies a few hours apart, and left a third in his tank while I was gone...Came home to check if he ate it (lights are out at 6 so he was asleep) and I found him with his head covered in peat moss sleeping in his water bowl...Took me a second to notice him. Thought I'd share, he woke up when I opened the top, and slowly dragged himself into his hide so I didn't manage to get another pic (reminds me of myself waking up in the morning hahaaha)


http://sphotos-a.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ash4/301312_115626561962109_1212098875_n.jpg

[Akuma223]

Cool pic, just be careful he doesn't drown. My boy fell asleep in his water dish once and almost drowned. He'd been floating at an odd angle so I plucked him out of the water, took him a while to wake up.

[smy_749]

Cool pic, just be careful he doesn't drown. My boy fell asleep in his water dish once and almost drowned. He'd been floating at an odd angle so I plucked him out of the water, took him a while to wake up.


Yea he usually rests his head on the side of the water bowl , doesnt keep it in the water.

[smy_749]

I dont wanna get rid of himmmmmm, tomorrow is the dayyyyyyy

[Aanayab1]

Is it not a possibility to keep him?

[smy_749]

Ofcourse its a possibility, but I don't think its best for the monitor. I haven't built his enclosure yet, all the parameters are good and hes doing fine now, but hes in a rubbermaid...I'm moving to a new house in a week but its gonna take longer than that to finish his cage and I found someone with experience so I figured its better to let him go.

In other news, I just picked up a animalplastics cage 48 " x 36 " x 24 " deep for 120 dollars....and its brand new. Any ideas what to put in it?

http://images.craigslist.org/3M43J63Hd5L85Ha5Jbd3k90b1f63de3c818de.jpg

[Aanayab1]

I see, that is very big of you. And the new cage, with some modification if needed, would be a decent home for a few ackies?

[smy_749]

I see, that is very big of you. And the new cage, with some modification if needed, would be a decent home for a few ackies?


Did you click on the pics? I dont know if it would honestly house ackies...the way its oriented, it DOES hold substrate unlike the vision cages, however I can't tell by the pick how much. Clearly not enough for an ackie, unless I put a board over the first third or so of the front windows..even then I don't think it would be deep enough.

[Aanayab1]

I suppose it depends on if your measurements are L x H x D, that is what I assumed. If that is the case you can make it work for at least one ackie.

[Aanayab1]

Forgot to add the reason I assumed that was because of the picture.

[smy_749]

Yea its 3 feet high, 4 feet wide, 2 feet depth, but the bottom of the cage isnt designed to hold more than 6 inches or so of substrate, as thats where the window starts if you can see in the pic?

[Aanayab1]

Yea that is the part along with the vents on the top that would need modifying. You could remove the doors and cut them in half or however needed to get you 15"-18" of soil (from my readings maximum nesting depth average is 13") given deeper would not hurt. Either get a piece of Lexan or plexiglass cut to fit the inside to get the soil where you need and silicone in place. It will need to be done from the inside so the pressure from the soil won't push the plexi or lexan off over time. Then use some of the decent quality rubber weather stripping around the door. Then use what you choose to fill in the void between the bottom half of the door and the lexan/plexi. Next tackle the holes for lighting... quick option being the dome shop lights. Depending on the diameter of the openings you may be able to just simply use the heavy duty liquid nails to hold them in place. Actual HVAC duct tape of muffler repair tape (the metal type) to wrap around the top of the dome lights where there are 3 holes. The cage would then be sealed quite well, there would be 18" of both soil and living head space. In theory you would have a 4' x 1.5' x 2' area of both soil and living space. It is not the optimal space, which varies by keeper, but through reading I have found that the minimum space used by a successful breeder is 4'x2.5'ishx2'. In that instance I am referencing the galvanized water trough designs. Others say that the minimum is 4'x4'x2', which would only give you an additional 6" of soil and head space. The obvious statement here is the more space, the better. I agree with that completely and am not sure how it could even be argued in the case of monitors. But what you have could work if you so choose. I have ackies and the majority of their time is spent hunting food and sleeping in their burrows. Mine have the option to climb up to a height of 24" but I have never witnessed them doing so (that does not mean they do not). Although they frequently use the cooler basking spot on the limb 12" from the ground.

[smy_749]

I'm sort of tempted to just cut out the bottom and put a trough, and silicone it in place. Only thing holding me back is its a nice enclosure, and would destroy the resale value/render it useless if I decide to remove it from the trough. I may just keep it for some geckos and go with my orginal plan to build a custom cage.

[Aanayab1]

That sounds good as well

[murrindindi]

Hi, if using it for V. acanthurus, I would cover the outside bottom half with 3/4inch plywood up to a height of around 38cm (15inches). That would obviously cover/partly one of the doors (which isn`t too important).
Doing it this way means it will be able to take the weight of substrate, yet leave the original enclosure undamaged.
By the way, use 6 inch steel angle brackets to fix the ply around the outside, they`re much stronger than screws, and again, so easy to fix together.

[smy_749]

Hi, if using it for V. acanthurus, I would cover the outside bottom half with 3/4inch plywood up to a height of around 38cm (15inches). That would obviously cover/partly one of the doors (which isn`t too important).
Doing it this way means it will be able to take the weight of substrate, yet leave the original enclosure undamaged.
By the way, use 6 inch steel angle brackets to fix the ply around the outside, they`re much stronger than screws, and again, so easy to fix together.

Hey, so I'm a bit confused about what you meant about the board on the bottom? I attached a pic of the enclosure. Did you mean to cut out the bottom and put an addition underneath plywood box type thing? Or to make a plywood box inside the enclosure that goes about half way up the door? I feel like the cage is larger than what he told me. I'll have to get out a measuring tape and recheck it (its taller than I expected).

He also installed a shoe rack type thing inside it, to get higher up towards the basking lights I guess (Idk if I like it, and don't think its neccessary if Im goign to install the basking lights inside the enclosure) , and theres a heat tape inside the enclosure which I'll probably remove. Or I may just sell it, it was only 120 and in good shape, they are 350 new at the animalplastics site.

http://sphotos-b.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ash3/576697_116613808530051_1002122645_n.jpg

[murrindindi]

Sorry, I meant to suggest turning it on it`s side so the doors are vertical, then it will be taller rather than long (but NOT "arborial", shhh ;) ), then you make a "sleeve" that fits around the bottom half of the enclosure, it will not only strengthen it, it will allow a greater depth of substrate, too (in effect, a box to drop the box into if that makes sense)?

[smy_749]

Sorry, I meant to suggest turning it on it`s side so the doors are vertical, then it will be taller rather than long (but NOT "arborial", shhh ;) ), then you make a "sleeve" that fits around the bottom half of the enclosure, it will not only strengthen it, it will allow a greater depth of substrate, too (in effect, a box to drop the box into if that makes sense)?

What if I buy a tree from a garden shop, then is it arboreal? I see what you mean now, only thing I'm scared of is if I cant get the sleeve fit 100% from the front of the cage (I think there is a small lip in the framing) that they wedge themselves in there or something? I can fit about 6 inches of substrate when its on its side, I was thinking to get a piece of plexy glass or pvc, and silicone another 6 inches into place over the bottom part of the windows (from the inside so it wont be pushed off). Could that work too? I may just use it for something else though, I don't wanna see it because it was such a good deal, but it has 2 x 8 inch vents in the top (they are very large imo) and slit vents on the side so not GREAT for humidity

[murrindindi]

Yes, obviously if you put a plastic shrub in there it will be truly arborial, but acanthurus aren`t truly arborial animals so it would still be all wrong (ANYONE would know that).... Now I`m confused about a lip they could get wedged in? It would work the other way so long as the whole thing is sturdy enough to take the weight of substrate (I think a 12 inch depth of soil/playsand would be the minimum). The vents can easily be covered, just tape a piece of plexiglass or similar over them).

[smy_749]

Yes, obviously if you put a plastic shrub in there it will be truly arborial, but acanthurus aren`t truly arborial animals so it would still be all wrong (ANYONE would know that).... Now I`m confused about a lip they could get wedged in? It would work the other way so long as the whole thing is sturdy enough to take the weight of substrate (I think a 12 inch depth of soil/playsand would be the minimum). The vents can easily be covered, just tape a piece of plexiglass or similar over them).

Nevermind about the lip thing, the cage has a frame which protrudes out in the front, sort of hard to explain, but if I slip a sleeve on the bottom, it will leave a gap of maybe an inch in the front between the plastic and plywood, but I can figure out a way to close it off. I'd rather do something better than the bare minimum, the only thing keeping me wanting to use it for a monitor, is I'm no carpenter by any means. What about a smaller arboreal species like timors/similist/tristis or w.e