my new venture(pic heavy)

[Dereks-Dragons]

selling both my tegus i MIGHT keep my extreme boy but the red im selling. ive ventured into my true passion finally got permission.. LARGE MONITORS. got my baby sumatran water yesterday hes 14.5 inches and just beautiful. got him in a 36x18x18 exo terra for now hes a baby but he will have a 10x5 foot cage at high as the ceiling goes i think ceilings are ion average 8-9 foot? well i had a few questions about a cage that large.. im building it into the wall in the new herp room.. heres my q.. lighting.. with the cage so damn tall how do u get the heat and uvb close enough without hanginf the fixtures down in the middle of the cage? anybody here have pics of an adult water monitors cage? thanks

Derek

heres my baby by the way

 

[numarix]

Very cool.

 

[james.w]

To answer you question I would either not make it that tall or make it have two levels and offer more than one basking spot. Otherwise you can raise the basking spot or hang the lights in the cage.

Do you mind sharing how you are keeping him, temps, humidity, substrate (type/depth) and diet? Don't take offense but that cage is probably one of the worst for him besides the fact it will only last a month or two if provided for properly.

 

[Dereks-Dragons]

well i planned on him out growing it very fast i have plenty of other different sized cages to keep moving him up through. i plan on starting the massive in wall cage onceme and my dad finnish the sheetrock in my new herp room.

and yes james, ive got him on cypress mulch avout 6 inches deep, theres a waterfall in the viv with a pond at the bottom so hes got a large pool AND constantly running water. many fake plants, humidity ranges from 60-80 % ( let me know if i should bump that up or down? couldnt really find any exact info on the humidity) and hes currently feeding on small pinkies, superworms, ground turkey and raw chicken cutlets. on top of the basking bulb thatr makes his basking spot at the highest spot top off around 130-135 he has a MVB on the far end of the viv for his uvb and to keep the other half around 80 degrees at the bottom. humidity is hard for me to keep so im gonna fix the celophane wrap on the top of the cage later so that it holds more humidity in. also have a flourescent strip light its just a " shop light " for ambient lighting

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as for the big cage i think imn gonna go 8 ft tall no matter what even if the ceiling is higher and ill just do what you said and make a different layer.. only prtoblem is theres outlets on the walls ill be usingf as the wall of his cage i dont think if would be safe to leave tose outlets open for use with the humidity and such so should i just out my plastic sheets over the poutleft and forget abut them?

 

[james.w]

Are you saying at least one of the walls will be sheetrock?

Humidity is fine at 60-80.

I am going to give my opinion on your current enclosure. Cypress doesn't hold a burrow or allow him to dig. Monitors love to dig and use burrows for shelter, security and humidity regulation. Glass cages are terrible at holding heat and humidity, there is a very good chance you will cook him.

I would put him in a cage at least 4*2*3 now that is more less a wooden box with glass sliding or hinged doors on the front. No vents, at least 1' of dirt, basking spots of the same temps you have now and plenty of cover. Moving him from cage to cage as he grows will cause stress and require him to get acclimated to his new home every time you move him.

Please don't take offense to my post I am just trying to help your monitor.

 

[Dereks-Dragons]

im not taking offense im open to opinions. as of noe temps and humidity arenbt a problem in the glass cage spo for nowim judt going ti leave him in there until the end of december. and as for the big cage, none of the walls will be sheetrock thast woudl be terrible lol, i jad to cut the bottom half of the sheetroack out of the whole room cuzs it was all banged up ect ect andd we are puttign new sheetrock in, then ill be gluing the 8x4 platic sheets frm lowes/home depot that are water proof ect ect then siliconing in between them to seal upo any cracks. GE silicone 2 okay to use in a cage? if not what silicone should i use? and the floor is concrete in the room we are putting down tile in the rest of the room sghould i just seal the concrete slab weith something in the cage to make it waterproof? or shdl i ut something down before the bedding? also i keep my cypress mulch wet at all times in his cage he already made a serioes of "tunnels" lol so im not gonan tear it all apart just yet hes still acclimating i dont want to upset him by destroying his tunnels. im not a fan of "dirt' can i use eco earth instead? ( coconut fibers ) im a fan of mixed substrates so i was thuinking eco earth, sypress and coco husk mix? i have sone sphagmum moss mixed in with the cypress right now. thanks!

Derek

 

[james.w]

Ok the plastic panels will work good for the adult enclosure, and that silicone should be fine. I would use Drylok on the concrete floor, it is a masonry water-proofer.

I am going to leave the current enclosure issue alone because you seem set on using what you have.

Substrate for the adult enclosure will need to be a minimum of 2' deep, 3'+ if it is a female to provide a place for nesting. You can of course use whatever "you" want, but are you going to be living in the enclosure or is the monitor. Like I said they love to dig and burrow, eco-earth, cypress, and coco husk don't allow this.

Can you post some pics of the entire enclosure? Who did you get the Salvator from?

 

[Dereks-Dragons]

i got him from off the ark in virginia. how long until you think i can sex him/her? ive had a few ppl give guestimates all have said male so far but at 14.5 inches hes way to small to sex lol. heres a link to a video of the cage


http://www.youtube.com/user/DereksDragons?feature=mhee

thats before i added more cypress. its about 3 inches deep in this video but he burrowed don and hit the glass so i added a few more inches i have a big bucket of the stuff here haha.

 

[james.w]

I have a 2.5' water that is still too small to sex, so anyone telling you it is male is full of it.

Is he eating good?

What happened with your Ornate?

 

[Dereks-Dragons]

hes still settling in i got him on thursday. he ate a piece of chicken but he mostly just hides still. the ornate never ate for me so i found him a new hme before he got too skinny to ship and the last i heared hes doing good now

how old is yur 2.5 footer and how long are you thinking until this baby is out more?

Derek

 

[james.w]

i have had mine 5 months and it was about the same size as yours when I got it. It can take months before you really see them, have you put food in since he ate the chicken?

I would also recommend to stay away from grocery store food, stick to whole prey. Fuzzy rats cut in half lengthwise are a very good place to start.

 

[CrankbaitJedi]

Water monitors are AWESOME!!! Still one of my faves. However, water monitor enclosures are all about the long haul and it starts now. Forget style, forget aesthetics... keep with usability (for the monitor)... stick with functionality. Your baby monitor will probably be invisible for months if you allow it to do so. Give it something to burrow in, he will use it. Big logs, big tub of water (ugh, cleaning out these things...)
Like James said, providing enough diggable substrate is key. My cages are wooden box type but I build large galvanized troughs into them to allow for the necessary 2-3 foot of soil mix to dig into (also don't have to worry so much about rot and breakdown over time. Remember, adults waters are going to put a lot of pressure on your building skills. In my opinion, using a bunch of vertical space just adds unneeded variables to heating a lot of space the monitor will not use very much. It may look great but the monitor will be 'using' the floor/hides/burrows much more often than climbing into the rafters of a 9 foot mega cage. Max out his options down where he will spend most of his time.

 

[Dereks-Dragons]

james, i just put more chicken in ill be picking up whole pray on monday i put about 3 pieced is so i will be able to tell if he came out and ate it.

 

[CrankbaitJedi]

Get that monitor whole food items, big roaches and mice! You give him somewhere to hide and keep the temps up... he will be huge in no time!!!

I have a Sav that went from 6 inches to 32 in 4 months. You are messing with one of the world's behemoths! Do it right and you will be dialing up a 6 footer before you know it. Get ready!

 

[Dereks-Dragons]

cant wait!! haha. i vigured it was time to finally get something MASSIVE. waters have always been an interest of mine. all monitors actually. illpick him up some pinkies on monday

 

[james.w]

Saw you are looking for an albino, I sent you an email about NERD. They have babies for $18k and a young adult for $14k. Quite a big different price from the $70 you paid for you Salvator.

 

[Dereks-Dragons]

i replied. i noticed that after i posted that ad LOL. i was looking more for al albino nile i sqw one on youtube it was badass haha.

 

[james.w]

i replied. i noticed that after i posted that ad LOL. i was looking more for al albino nile i sqw one on youtube it was badass haha.

Ben Siegel had an albino nile.

 

[Dereks-Dragons]

yep thats whos video i was watching.

 

[james.w]

Are you really getting 4 monitors?