Question on new enclosure build

Toothless · 01-21-13, 06:24 PM

Hello everyone! I'm new here, but have been a member of a few online forums for about 7 months and have been doing lots of reading about monitors and their care. My 'hello' post is in the newcommer section if anyone wants to take a look

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I am in the process of building Toothless (my Savannah) his adult enclosure and am debating on whether or not to insulate it.
I had been planning to insulate the entire enclosure, but due to some unforseen circumstances money has been a touch tight lately. His current enclosure is starting to fall apart (I was silly and used melamine) so I need to get this new one done as soon as possible. I can have it done in the next few weeks if I choose not to insulate it, but also don't want to run into any heating issues by not doing so. His current enclosure is not insulated, and holds the heat and humidity very well (my place is kept at around 75F). Power outages here are not very common, and if one does happen they usually do not last for very long as I'm on a main power grid (yay for me!), although its always possible that a catastrophic event will destroy the city- however if that happens I believe heating my enclosure will be the least of my worries!
I guess what I'm trying to get is people's opinions on whether it should be ok without insulation? I can scrape up enough to insulate the bottom half where the substrate will be, but would that do anything at all? I guess I'm just worried about the substrate not being warm enough (however if the ambient air temp in the room is 75, wouldn't that mean the substrate should be at least 75 as well??
I'm sorry to ramble, but this is my first Savannah and I want to make sure I get everything right. I have the interior of the cage mostly worked out and designed, its just this insulation thing thats bugging me- I don't want to take short cuts if it will affect my boy in any way.
Please, your insight is appreciate.
Thank you

jarich · 01-21-13, 06:48 PM

I suppose the question is where in the room is it 75? If its 75 on the floor, where the substrate will be, then it shouldnt be an issue. If its 75 at the thermostat on the wall, that probably means the floor is quite a bit cooler. In which case you may run into problems with keeping the substrate warm enough at depth to be usable by the monitor.

Toothless · 01-21-13, 07:37 PM

I didn't even think about that, thank you for mentioning it. Its usually 75 about 1 1/2 feet off the floor (the thermometer rests on a small table in the living room- which is where his enclosure will be). I'll stick it on the ground tomorrow to see what I get.
Would insulating only the bottom half help with this problem, or is it useless to only insulate half of the enclosure?

infernalis · 01-21-13, 08:04 PM

build it with just the interior wall, studs facing out, that way when money permits, insulate it and put on the exterior walls.

DiscoPat · 01-21-13, 08:58 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by infernalis

build it with just the interior wall, studs facing out, that way when money permits, insulate it and put on the exterior walls.

This is what I did.

Toothless · 01-22-13, 04:21 AM

OMG, why didn't I think of that! What a wonderful idea. This way I don't have to compromise what I want, and can also get him in there in a timely manner.
Thanks a bunch!

infernalis · 01-22-13, 09:24 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Toothless

OMG, why didn't I think of that! What a wonderful idea. This way I don't have to compromise what I want, and can also get him in there in a timely manner.
Thanks a bunch!

We aim to please

Toothless · 01-22-13, 01:36 PM

Well, you guys are certainly doing a very good job at it

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A little off topic, but pretty funny so I thought I should mention it...
His current enclosure has a slid bolt halfway up each door to keep him from muscling it open. I walked into the room this morning, and saw he had muscled the bottom part of the door open just enough to stick his arm out...and was trying to grab onto my cat's fluffy tail as it was walking by

! It was pretty cute, but I didn't want him to get hurt so opened up the cage to get his arm back in. As soon as I opened it, he leaped out of the cage and onto my lap, then proceeded to start climbing all over me investigating. He seemed so happy to be out of the enclosure, but unfortunately I jad just come from the shower and was not fully dressed yet

... Boy do those claws hurt! hehe.
I managed to slowely lift my hands up underneath him and move him back into the cage. Poor guy got a little cranky with me since he wanted to explore and was NOT happy about going back into his place.
Its crazy how quickly he has started to open up and trust me. It took months until he would except my presence in the room, let alone while the cage was open. It seems within the past few weeks, he has just exploded with personality. I'm so happy that he feels comfortable enough with me now to show his true stuff!
Wish I would have been able to get a video of it all, but unfortunately I doubt it would have been appropriate to post online considering my dress code at the time

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I am now covered with tiny cat-like scratches, but it was SO worth it!

Toothless · 01-22-13, 01:37 PM

Oh, and before anyone says anything, I have two extra slid bolts already, and plan to install them on the bottom part of the doors tonight to prevent a reoccurance.