Monitor enclosure discussion thread

[murrindindi]

Originally Posted by formica

amzing thread, thanks to all who have contributed

I am a new Sav owner, admitidly bought on impulse, although I was aware of their basic needs before hand, have kept quite a few reptiles over the years, always loved them, and monitors have been on my list of reptiles i'd love to have for a loooong time!

At the moment, he/she, is just a hatchling, 5 inches long and quite nervous, i've set up a small enclosure for now, because I want to be sure its feeding properly and generally in good health - will be off to the vet in a few weeks for a check up, sexing and parasite checks

Although currently in a small enclosure, i've managed to keep the humidity high, and a nice tempreture gradient and 48C (sorry i'm english, i dont know F, 130ish i think) basking spot, although it seems to like the slightly cooler areas just around it. Theres a big plastic bowl full of water, which is obligingly used as a toilet every morning currently about 6 inches of tortoise sand-soil mix in the bass of the enclosure, tapering off to an inch nearer to the heat lamp. Two large pieces of aquarium drift wood are its favorite places to sit on and sleep under.

I'm using a 75W hallogen bulb at the moment, the basking area seems ok, but i may try a spot lamp bulb if i have any issues with tempreture. Also have a 15W heatmatt under the 'cool' side of the enclosure, which comes on at night once the main basking lamp is out - personally I prefer to emulate natural heating, and keep it nice and warm at night, but not hot as it is during the day - been to africa a few times, and it can get damn cold at night, so I think this is ok.

Average temps in the enclosure are 30C in the middle, 35C around the heat lamp, 48C under the heat lamp, 25-26C on the cool side, with the soil temp about the same. Humidity in the middle is around 70-80%, 20-30% near the heat lamp, and around 90-100% underneath the drift wood where it likes to sleep most of the time.

It does like to dig, but generally just sleeps under the wood, which is warm and humid so I guess this is ok

Any advice much appriciated, this is my first monitor I already have much of the wood required for its final enclosure which is set to be 10ft x 5ft x 2 ft, with a large heated aquarium in the base for swimming and catching fish (good idea for Savs? I know they love the swim, and feel if they will catch fish, then why not...but open to more experienced advice!). Also will be provided with 3 feet of soil should it deciede that burrowing is its prefered place to sleep

I only plan on keeping it in the current enclosure (2ft x 1.5ft x 1.5ft) until after I've established that its healthy and behaving normally, aswell as becoming used to my presence, then its moving to a 4x2x2 enclosure ( I hve plenty of enclosures for repltiles available so moving from one to another is not an issue from that point of view)

I have one question, is the 4x2x2 going to be big enough for the next 6-7months? i am moving house in 6months time, and i would rather build the enclosure into the house, rather than deconstruct and reconstruct - that said, my sav's health is more important to me than a little extra labour, but if he's not going to grow to much longer than a foot or so i think I can wait till i move? any advice greatefull recieved

Hi, it would be good if you could start another thread as this one is basically for the construction of enclosures rather than the care of the animal/s, and I feel you need to adjust your husbandry asap. E.g. "My new Savannah monitor" might get more responses.
A few comments: I`ll guess you`re using an all glass fishtank at the moment, although they can be modified this one is far too small, it will be extremely difficult to provide the necessary conditions inside. In 6 months this monitor could well be 60cm ToL!
A surface temp at the basking site of 48c is only 118f, it needs to be somewhat higher @ between approx. 50 to 60c (120 to 140f), the other temp you need to worry about is the lowest ambient (air) @ approx. 24c (75f).
A few photos will also be very helpful. Thanks!

[infernalis]

Savannahmonitor.net

My channel - YouTube

Why improper housing kills monitors!- Quick link

[formica]

thanks for the reply, no its not a glass tank, i dont use those for reptiles, its a wooden enclosure fully sealed with glass sliding doors, humidity is kept high, as i know this is a major issue for monitors, and i do understand the need for a good tempreture gradient. I have another similar enclosure that is 4x3x2, so i'll use that instead when the time comes, i know the current setup is a very small tank for a monitor, it wont be for long while I work on the design for its final enclosure.

thanks for the info, I've now changed the heating light (which was not directional) to a ceramic heater, and moved the basking area a little closer to the heater which is now providing a 56C spot with a spread of about 48C near by, changing the bulb to cermaic has also had the effect of bringing down the lower end to 24C

I have also added a significant amount of soil-sand mix (3 inches across the base, with a bank of upto 6 inches on one side, compacted down and moist so it will hold up to digging holes) to help keep the humidity up and for it to dig, the area it likes to sleep has so far kept at a constant 90-100% any way

my reason for posting here is because I am currently trying to decide the best approach to building its final home, I've layed out my basic plans in the initial post, and any feedback would be gratefully appreciated that said, i suspect that many of the designs I've come accross on this thread will heavily influence my final design

if he's likley to reach 60cm at 6months then I may well begin building his final home now and skip the intermediate stage, so I think I need to rethink my current ideas and make the setup a little more portable!

pics will follow at some point soon!

[formica]

Originally Posted by smy_749

I will let someone respond with more detail, but a large aquarium will need an amazing filter, and they are not a very 'aquatic' species so its not necessary. I would just get a large rubbermaid that you can easily replace the water which will end up being mud anyways.

Your current enclosure is too small, 2 feet is not enough.

Put him in the 4x2x2 now, don't worry about if hes eating or not. Just get a dish where he can get in and the food can't get out and you will be monitoring just fine.

thanks, I have a 306 filter which will happily keep a large tank clean, i was also contemplating a smaller setup - i'll investigate more, mud could be an issue, and soiling, it does like using the water as a toilet lol I'll see what I turn up, I would like to give it the opportunity to catch fish to eat, should it so wish - are there any reasons that I shouldnt do this?

eating hasnt been an issue, it has an enourmous appetite! I dont generally buy from pet stores, hence by over cautious approach to his health over the next few weeks, happy to say the place I bought him was very clear about his needs as he grew and became an adult

[murrindindi]

Originally Posted by formica

thanks for the info, I've now changed the heating light (which was not directional) to a ceramic heater, and moved the basking area a little closer to the heater which is now providing a 56C spot with a spread of about 48C near by, changing the bulb to cermaic has also had the effect of bringing down the lower end to 24C

I have also added a significant amount of soil-sand mix (3 inches across the base, with a bank of upto 6 inches on one side, compacted down and moist so it will hold up to digging holes) to help keep the humidity up and for it to dig, the area it likes to sleep has so far kept at a constant 90-100% any way

my reason for posting here is because I am currently trying to decide the best approach to building its final home, I've layed out my basic plans in the initial post, and any feedback would be gratefully appreciated that said, i suspect that many of the designs I've come accross on this thread will heavily influence my final design

if he's likley to reach 60cm at 6months then I may well begin building his final home now and skip the intermediate stage, so I think I need to rethink my current ideas and make the setup a little more portable!

pics will follow at some point soon!

Hi again, the ceramic heat emitters are good for maintaining ambient (air) temps, not good at all for creating a basking site surface temp because they direct heat all around rather than downwards. Much better to use relatively low wattage halogen bulbs (flood, not spot) @ between approx. 40 to 60w+, raise or lower them or the basking object `til you get the desired surface temp @ between approx. 50 to 60c (120 to 140f), or simply fit a dimmer switch.
I usually pay around £5 each for my halogens and they can last up to 3,000 hours, I get them from the following website: thelightbulb.co.uk
This is my Asian Water monitor`s basking site to give you an idea, I need to use more bulbs because of his size, you might well only need 2 x 40w at the present time.

[formica]

taken all the advice onboard and created a new enclosure setup, now using halogen directional lights, a 3 lamp block (9£ including lamps from Argos, score!) with 3 X 50W lights, actually only using 2 because it gives a good 60-70C spread on a log, 3 lamps gave 140C (centigrade not F!!)

when i had one 75W halogen, he never sat directly underneath it, and it only ever hit 50C. but lets see how he feels about the larger and more varied tempretures!

Enclosure is new, sealed 3ft x 1.5ft x 1.5ft, still not his final home, but has a nice tempreture gradient down to 25C, center is 30C, and he has 5inches soil to make a burron at one end if he likes (creative use of drift wood to make a 'bank' of sorts)

noticed he is molting, shame i had to make changes to his housing today! but he's in a better encloser now, lots of humidity and temperature variations to should settle nicely now

[suz1000]

I'm beginning to plan a new 4x8x4 habitat for our Savannah but not really sure how best to lay out the interior. Could I trouble you to shoot me some photos of your Sav habitats??

[suz1000]

My current enclosure is 4x2x2.5 and is laid out nicely but there are so many more options with the extra space I'd like to utilize it correctly

[TarantulaSteve]

Originally Posted by murrindindi

Hi again, the ceramic heat emitters are good for maintaining ambient (air) temps, not good at all for creating a basking site surface temp because they direct heat all around rather than downwards.

Ummmmm,

Originally Posted by formica

thanks for the info, I've now changed the heating light (which was not directional) to a ceramic heater, and moved the basking area a little closer to the heater which is now providing a 56C spot with a spread of about 48C near by....

Im not trying to knitpick anyone. I understand that Halogens are the prefered option for monitor lizards, and a lot of that has to do with Wayne and his amazing website, but as long as the basking site gets to the proper temperature, does it truly matter what you use?

I know Im not going to make any friends saying this, but after formica says his CHE gets the basking spot hot enough, someone else comes along to instinctually say CHEs arent good. Im not a fan of the idea that there is only one way to do things.

[infernalis]

Originally Posted by TarantulaSteve

Ummmmm,




Im not trying to knitpick anyone. I understand that Halogens are the prefered option for monitor lizards, and a lot of that has to do with Wayne and his amazing website, but as long as the basking site gets to the proper temperature, does it truly matter what you use?

I know Im not going to make any friends saying this, but after formica says his CHE gets the basking spot hot enough, someone else comes along to instinctually say CHEs arent good. Im not a fan of the idea that there is only one way to do things.

No it does not. I have and still use dollar store (non halogen) floods with great results. In fact I have been endurance testing them before I really "go public" with suggesting them.

So far, so good.

The lizards have yet to make them fail.

[murrindindi]

Originally Posted by TarantulaSteve

Ummmmm,




Im not trying to knitpick anyone. I understand that Halogens are the prefered option for monitor lizards, and a lot of that has to do with Wayne and his amazing website, but as long as the basking site gets to the proper temperature, does it truly matter what you use?

I know Im not going to make any friends saying this, but after formica says his CHE gets the basking spot hot enough, someone else comes along to instinctually say CHEs arent good. Im not a fan of the idea that there is only one way to do things.

Hi, can you give some details of how you keep your captive Varanids?
I agree with you that there`s more than one way to do things, but surely something that`s been proven to work very efficiently (helps to offer the animals supportive conditions) is the way to go. Halogen bulbs were being recommended and used long before Wayne came into the hobby!

[infernalis]

Originally Posted by murrindindi

Halogen bulbs were being recommended and used long before Wayne came into the hobby!

Yes they were....

I didn't invent anything other than a slick web site.

[TarantulaSteve]

Originally Posted by murrindindi

Hi, can you give some details of how you keep your captive Varanids?
I agree with you that there`s more than one way to do things, but surely something that`s been proven to work very efficiently (helps to offer the animals supportive conditions) is the way to go. Halogen bulbs were being recommended and used long before Wayne came into the hobby!

You make a very good point, and something I overlooked. Halogens are proven and cheap, and perhaps we should be suggesting their use over everything else.
I just got my cackles up earlier because after Formica said his basking spot was sitting pretty at 132.8F using a CHE, you respond that CHE's arent good for basking spots......

They might not be the best option, but that doesnt mean they are a bad one.

[smy_749]

I personally think they are a difficult option. The heat is sent in every which direction, so to get a proper basking spot you usually need a very high wattage bulb since only a certain amount is sent straight downward. This high wattage then bumps the ambients usually to where you don't want them, and humidity plummets. Imo, its very very easy to find the balance/proper wattage with halogen floods and I would only use maybe a 60 watt CHE set to 75 on a thermostat if my house was very cold (which its not).

Also, I don't think anyone here says there is only one way to do things, however, just about ALL of the successful keepers of varanids are doing these techniques. These ways have proven results over many many years so why change it to something which clearly shows no added benefit, and isn't any cheaper.

[franks]

I agree with the above about ceramic heat emitters being a more difficult option. Also, in every case where I tried to implement one, it dried the air out and killed the humidity significantly more than a halogen bulb.