Building a new Enclosure for my Sav.. Opinions and Ideas Appreciated.

Maelstrom · #1 (**permalink**) 03-13-2008, 03:34 PM

Hey guys n gals.
Im very close to building a final enclosure for mine and my gf's Savannah, Atilla.
He is currently 8 months old and about 22" long (give or take a couple inches either way)..
Up until this point we had him in a 4.5' x 2' aquarium and cant wait to get him out of it and into a new custom enclosure..
I plan on making it 8x4x4 as long as my door jams permit the 4'.. If not it will be 3.5' deep minimum...
I am going to make the front come up 20" from the bottom and add in lots of topsoil/sand mixture to fill to about 18" in height of soil..
The door for the front i plan on making 7' long and 2' high with locking latches.
There will also of course be a large waterdish for soaking and ill prolly use one of those large stick hides buried in the soil for a burrow..
Is there anything else you guys would add in there to complete the design??
Ive attached an image just incase i didnt properly explain my ideas haha..
Thanks in advance

oh and heres a lil pic of our baby just for fun

nicolenadia · #2 (**permalink**) 03-13-2008, 03:50 PM

Hes adorable! I really am drawn to savs, more than any other monitor. I also LOVE his name....perfect for such little beasts. Well, anyhoo...I am building the same enclosure for mine, so I give you 2 thumbs up!!! I am using tile laminate on the floor before I put down the soil. and I may use some radient heat pannels around one side of the enclosure, but other than that, sounds like a great plan!!! Post up some pics with you are done.

Maelstrom · #3 (**permalink**) 03-13-2008, 03:59 PM

Radiant heat panels sounds like a great idea Nicole. I was thinking of maybe adding a couple inches of gravel on the bottom with a small drain out the bottom into a pan to let the water drain from the soil and enclosing the whole bottom of the tank up to a couple inches above the soil with a tarp just to prevent the damp soil from rotting my wood.. I hope that makes sense lol.
Love your Savs name as well. Darwin is an excellent name!!
Perhaps we should both make a thread detailing the progress of our new enclosures haha

nicolenadia · #4 (**permalink**) 03-13-2008, 04:11 PM

Oh Thank you, I'm sure Darwin would be happy to hear that...He looks like a dinosaur, so it was either Darwin, or the fearless leader of the Dinobots, Grimlock....I'm a dork, I know.

The radient heat panels can be expensive, so Im still teetering with the idea. The drainage idea is a great one!!! I wasn't sure if it was that big of a deal becuase according to what I have heard, they like carian and rotted wood, but I am concerned about mildew, so I may incorporate some active charcoal and some gravel under the soil and a drainage hole. Good looking out!!! Yeah, I'm going to my Dad's house this weekend to hopefully complete it. I'll take some pictures and post them. I think we should post the progress here, adn anyone else can throw up some photos too!!!
Word-

ChadRamsey · #5 (**permalink**) 03-13-2008, 04:12 PM

maybe i missed something, but i would advise putting the heat lamps both one one side so there is more of a gradiant

owen.richards · #6 (**permalink**) 03-13-2008, 04:23 PM

im gonna be the first to say, send a PM to razeraz, that guy knows his monitors, and knows his cages even better

DRZRider · #7 (**permalink**) 03-13-2008, 04:40 PM

My argus enclosure is 8X4X4 and I put a few coats of drylock (concrete waterproofer) on the wood, then a coat of paint (to make it pretty), and then a few coats of polyurethane (to make sure every thing is sealed). I used silicone caulk in all the corners. I have not worried about any type of drainage system since the dirt at the bottom has been damp, but not wet enough for any water to run off. The monitors dig burrows to the damp dirt and they even lay eggs there. So far the enclosure is holding up well, but it has not been a year yet.

I had an earlier enclosure built similar to this one but only put polyurethane on the wood. The bottom rotted out in a few years. A lot of people use FRP from Lowes and they say it works great since it is waterproof.

I would put the basking areas to one side of the enclosure so you have a warm side and a cool side where the savanna can choose the temperatures it wants. I see my monitors use all the areas of the enclosure with all the different temperatures.

I hope this helps some,

Ed

nicolenadia · #8 (**permalink**) 03-13-2008, 04:44 PM

What is FRP?

DRZRider · #9 (**permalink**) 03-13-2008, 04:57 PM

Fiberglass Reinforced Plastic panels that are sold in 4X8 sheets. It is the stuff on some public restroom walls.

Fiberglass Reinforced Wall Panel

Ed

Maelstrom · #10 (**permalink**) 03-13-2008, 05:43 PM

Hey Chad

Yah i should have explained that part better.. I live in eastern canada and our nights / days can get very cold so the extra lamp would be more as a way to keep the ambient temperature high enough.. Our typical room temperature is like 70 degrees so i typically like to have a lower wattage bulb on the far end just to keep the ambient at minimum required temperature.. Im not 100% on my temps yet of course in such a big tank.. So that will come as one of the last things done...

razeraze · #11 (**permalink**) 03-18-2008, 05:48 PM

Sounds like you are on the right track. We use pond liner to cover our cages.

30 mil

Heating the cage is done by any means necessary. There is no perfect way to heat a cage. If one side is too cool add more bulbs. You just have to play with things until everything is correct. We have our lights on one side and add more bulbs in the winter.

Maelstrom · #12 (**permalink**) 03-18-2008, 05:53 PM

Thanks a lot man

Good to know im atleast in the right mindset.

Advertisement