i went onto another forum and asked about enclosures for my monitor and got responses like these


"quote"The deal is, if you decide to own reptiles, especialy med- large reptiles you must also learn how to construct enclosures, thats just part of the game, no excuses. If you can't physically build them then you will have to pay some one to build them for you.
Either way you have to figure out how to provide the right housing for your animal.There are NO commercialy available enclosures which are suitable for monitors.
Even the top commercial cage manufacturers brag about offering completely useless enclosures( 3/4 of an inch for substrate!).
So you are on your own.
Fish tanks are for fish.
Screen tops allow all of the essential HEAT and HUMIDITY to easily escape, no screen tops.
Lights should be placed inside the enclosure.
adequate room for substrate must be provided.
Enclosure must be watertight/ moisture resistant.
I could go on for days.It's your job to figure this out, I always thought that this was one of the fun parts of reptile keeping.
Get to it, Niles are a serious responsibility.
Good Luck
Ben

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#14 Today 05:31:03
shay
Gold member Re: High new here Pics of nilocticuswhat monitors need is usually more than keeper are willing to provide. for one thing they need an enclosure that has a solid top. the reason for this is to keep humidity inside the cage instead of escaping out the top. humididy should always be 60% or more for a nile. the ventelation should come from a couple small vents towards the bottom. monitors are also diggers. they like to dig burrows to hide out in /nest in. 2 feet of dirt is a good amount. they need a basking spot of around 130 degrees surface temperature. (use a heat gun to test surface temps) they also need a cool area in their cage with an ambient temp of around75. they also need as much room as you can provide. they get big fast and will soon need 8x4 ft cage minimum

these are just the basics. if you can provide these basics your lizard may not die slowly like it will in an aquarium

cheers
shay"end quote




do you guys agree with this? if so im seriously going to look into building a custom enclosure for my nile monitor and here's what ive come up with what I would do.


Since he's just a baby and his ultimate enclosure is going to be a room I would build a wooden frame similar to the size of a fifty five gallon but high enough so I could have 9-12 inches of dirt from the bottom of the enclosure to the top. The bottom 13 inches of the enclosure will be sealed wood paneling for the substrate then after that would be glass paneling to the top of the enclosure. It also appears that I need a solid wood top that is sealed with vents going out to the side as to allow for some ventilation. And I would put hooks of some sort so I could hang the lights inside of the tank so I don't compromise the humidity. Its kinda complex but not so rediculous that it can't be done. Any ideas suggestions on the matter. I'm dead serious about building an enclosure like this, i took on the responsibility of a monitor and im not gonna have him live a crappy life in an inadequate enclosure. Also I have two more weeks to kill before school and this would be a nice end of summer project if anything. How would I go about planning an enclosure like this? I'm not really sure where to start.

also just as another thought on this, i was thinking if that is too difficult I could purchase a fifty five gallon tank, cut out the bottom glass panel and build a substrate box and top for it so I can have the adequate amount of substrate and humidity.


Any help and input I can get from you experienced enclosure builders is really highly apreciated.

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ginko tutors in basic math just ask paris hilton

obsoleta lindheimeri(texas ratsnake)
varanus nilocticus(nile monitor)
Sternotherus odoratus(musk turtle)
pagona minor(2)(bearded dragons breeding pair)

I agree that a monitor of the size a nile can get needs a custom cage they just get to big!Mayb even a spare room for him.

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he's actually getting a room sized enclosure when he gets big enough for it, but right now I still want him properly accomodated... maybe I should cut the bottom out of his tank and build a substrate box for it, then build a top for the tank he's in right now and that will be alright till he reaches 24 inches then I can just put him in the room sized enclosure im gonna start working on soon.

__________________
ginko tutors in basic math just ask paris hilton

obsoleta lindheimeri(texas ratsnake)
varanus nilocticus(nile monitor)
Sternotherus odoratus(musk turtle)
pagona minor(2)(bearded dragons breeding pair)