New 1st Water Monitor...can i handle him?

if you cant put plastic on top or glass...then how exactly do you warm the tank? Put the fixture inside of the enclosure? isnt that kinda dangerous for the pet? especially in such a small enclosure? (30 gallons).

 

you can make a light box to mount on top of the tank. like I am doing

 

Um... the whole point behind all of my numerous posts in this thread is to get that animal out of the 30 gallon tank and put it in a wooden enclosure. And yes, in the wooden enclosure, you fix the basking lights to the top of the enclosure on the inside. Placing them on the outside on the top means you have to have a hole for the light to get through (refer to my bucket analogy in a previous post for why that is no good). mcfresh deli, that advice goes out to you, too, so unless your lightbox is sealed very well to the surface of the enclosure, it will be a humidity escape hatch.

 

yes it will be sealed completely i might use aluminum and fix my lights into the box. and have one of the guys i work with weld it for me. i cant weld aluminum

 

cant u just get one of those automatic humidifiers or misters made specificially for reptiles...id think thatd work well for a tank...beats the hell out of misting with a spray bottle...

croc...im not disagreeing with u on the wooden enclosure idea...i think its a great idea...im going to start making a really large one soon to put in my garage for 6-8 months from now when it's time for him to go in it (going to use half my garage...so figure 15 feet by...eh...maybe 6-8 feet in width)..ill be sure to put vents in the side, i made a reall big one before when i lived in chicago, took a month, so i better get started on this one soon since it'll be alot bigger...

 

sounds like a cool cage. but don't bite off more than you can chew. i've seen many people hae big plans, only to take forever and maybe not even happen, when a smaller proper cage could have been built and suite it fine withing a week.

sealed light boxes may work great for teh monitor, but monitor lights get hot, and that heat NEEDS to escape. please dont creat a fire hazard, make that alluminum ligth box big so that it can spread teh heat evenlly without getting too hot.

 

I don't use light boxes, but prefer to use ceramic fittings within the enclosure itself.

 

ill just get a humidifier/mister made specificially for a monitor for now...should be fine inside the tank as long as the humidity is at 70%

anyways guys, thanks for the replies..im good =)