So I am building the cage for my monitor as my new room is almost done. I was planing on making caves with excavator clay, with some aspen bedding in it to make a bed type of deal, then for the rest of the cage sand and ecoearth. Would this be okay and I want to do type if water area to where he can walk into it without there being a dish(I know it will be interesting to clean), do you think this would be possible?
What to use?
- Thread starter Silvertears
- Start date
possible, yes... practical, no...
A you already seem aware, cleaning a built in water 'tub' is going to be difficult at best. And since providing clean drinking water is essential, it may be more work than you are willing to do. I remove, clean and replace my Tegus water dish every 2~3 days. If it weren't such an easy task I would not do it as often as necessary and my tegu would suffer because of it...
This also limits future alterations. I built a nice custom filtered water container for my Tegu, then a few months later decided it was too small and too difficult to keep clean. So I simply pulled it out and put a larger plastic tub in. The newer plastic tub doesn't look nearly as nice, but works much better. If my custom water container was built in, I would be stuck with it and my Tegu would suffer because of it...
But having said all that, sure it's possible!
I've used Drylok to seal wood structures 100% water tight on several occasions. I used it to seal both my 4' x 2' x 2' Tegus grow out cage as well as his 8' x 3' x 3.5' indoor enclosure. Both enclosures are 100% water tight until water flows out the doors. I also used it to seal the custom filtered water container I referenced above, although it was not put to the test of time due to being replaced.
A you already seem aware, cleaning a built in water 'tub' is going to be difficult at best. And since providing clean drinking water is essential, it may be more work than you are willing to do. I remove, clean and replace my Tegus water dish every 2~3 days. If it weren't such an easy task I would not do it as often as necessary and my tegu would suffer because of it...
This also limits future alterations. I built a nice custom filtered water container for my Tegu, then a few months later decided it was too small and too difficult to keep clean. So I simply pulled it out and put a larger plastic tub in. The newer plastic tub doesn't look nearly as nice, but works much better. If my custom water container was built in, I would be stuck with it and my Tegu would suffer because of it...
But having said all that, sure it's possible!
I've used Drylok to seal wood structures 100% water tight on several occasions. I used it to seal both my 4' x 2' x 2' Tegus grow out cage as well as his 8' x 3' x 3.5' indoor enclosure. Both enclosures are 100% water tight until water flows out the doors. I also used it to seal the custom filtered water container I referenced above, although it was not put to the test of time due to being replaced.
I knew it would be hard to clean but a cool idea. Possibly put a drain at the bottom that closes off with a bucket to sit under it? I can bring a hose into my room to hose down the water area, would that be an easier way to clean it?
As I pondered the very same subject for a very similar animal... my conclusion was the only way it would be worth the effort would be if I made a sump filter for the pool...
This would drastically increase the volume of water in the system. As we fish heads all know, the solution to polution is dilution!
Also, the creation of the sump would in deep include a drain of sorts which I would have designed to allow the system to be 'flushed' to rush any physical waste out of the pool and down into the sump.
Though I did not take this idea very far, since my Tegu inclosure sits flat ont he floor which does not allow any possibility of a sump below... and while the enclosure does double as a stand for a large fish tank, I felt the complexity in design to plumb it into the aquarium far outweighed any benefits it would offer...
Though I can vouch for the concept. I used a drilled 50 gal aquarium (48" x 18" @ 13" tall) as a 'vivarium' which had a waterfall a stream and a small pool that totalled about 2.5 gallons of water... which was plumbed with a 20 gal aquarium as a sump increasing the overall volume to around 15 gallons... While the set up didn't work ideally for what I wanted to use it for, the plumbed sump worked excellent...
This would drastically increase the volume of water in the system. As we fish heads all know, the solution to polution is dilution!
Also, the creation of the sump would in deep include a drain of sorts which I would have designed to allow the system to be 'flushed' to rush any physical waste out of the pool and down into the sump.
Though I did not take this idea very far, since my Tegu inclosure sits flat ont he floor which does not allow any possibility of a sump below... and while the enclosure does double as a stand for a large fish tank, I felt the complexity in design to plumb it into the aquarium far outweighed any benefits it would offer...
Though I can vouch for the concept. I used a drilled 50 gal aquarium (48" x 18" @ 13" tall) as a 'vivarium' which had a waterfall a stream and a small pool that totalled about 2.5 gallons of water... which was plumbed with a 20 gal aquarium as a sump increasing the overall volume to around 15 gallons... While the set up didn't work ideally for what I wanted to use it for, the plumbed sump worked excellent...
if you want to have a small pond/wet area the easiest way is to get a acrylic sheet and cut it to about 6" high and silicone it to the tank what ever the wet/water area dimensions you want it to be. then you put sand and maybe a few slate rocks stacked in a stair case form with sand on it so it goes high to low the low becoming the wet/water area. then from the high part you put some wood pieces across the tank and make a bridge to a basking platform & etc etc. just giving u some ideas from a few setups i use to have when i kept herps 
The caves made by the clay was going to be the basking area's, they would be the highest point. I want to do a natural kind of enclosure for him. So for the pool a sump should work? I would make sure all waist it out of the pool twice a day also.
the clay doesn't hold up that well it's good for inverts but a monitor will tear that $hit up big time and for even a small monitor you will need a ton of it. It took two bags in a 10 gal to just make one cave .
I am a huge fan of naturalistic looking enclsoures and to satisify that I've made many different 10~75 gal vivariums, terrariums, etc...
But for a large animal such as a Monitor or a Tegu, I found it simply too impractical to do so in an indoor enclosure.
I researched several materials to make caves and other rock like structures and everything I found was either A) not strong enough or B) far to heavy...
But for a large animal such as a Monitor or a Tegu, I found it simply too impractical to do so in an indoor enclosure.
I researched several materials to make caves and other rock like structures and everything I found was either A) not strong enough or B) far to heavy...
I have a close friend who has a Sav... he keeps him in a 6' x 3' enclsoure... large (15'ish gallon) water tub filtered by a powerhead w/ sponge filter... 2" of wood chips (I don't know what kind he used, I have my Tegu on Cypress)... several large (2'~4" diameter) branches... a couple large chunks of bark drapped over some branhes...
It is somewhat natural looking, though doe not exactly look like a little piece of the African Savannah. The Sav Monitor spends a lot of his time soaking in the water and splits the rest either sleeping under the branches/bark or he climbs to the top of the branches/bark to peer over his domain.
His Sav, though stunted by poor conditions before my friend got it, seems to be quite content in the above described enclsoure
It is somewhat natural looking, though doe not exactly look like a little piece of the African Savannah. The Sav Monitor spends a lot of his time soaking in the water and splits the rest either sleeping under the branches/bark or he climbs to the top of the branches/bark to peer over his domain.
His Sav, though stunted by poor conditions before my friend got it, seems to be quite content in the above described enclsoure