Outdoor Monitor pen is nearly done FINALLY.

[wolfy-hound]

Yep, it's taken months of work off and on and zero help from anyone else. I've done all the construction myself. The wire is 1/2 x 1 inch WELDED galvanized wire to stand up to monitor lizard boredom. The wire and frame is put together with all screws, no nails. I'll protect the plywood on the inside with lighter weight wire so she can't scratch it. The floor is not only brick, but a layer of the same welded wire, which folds up outside the frame, sandwiched with an outer pinning board.

The roof is similarly, wire, folded down outside the frame and pinned in place with an outer board. I used over 6 POUNDS of screws putting it together. It's been designed and built for the purpose of containing a big annoyed monitor. Moggie should be pleased with it.

The substrate will be dirt, vermiculite and mulch mixed, a large tub she can soak in and logs. I still will build a hide box that will have a heat bulb installed(wire separating lizard from bulb of course). In winter I will be able to hang heat lamps inside and cover the entire outside of the pen with plastic. Since it's Florida, I don't have nearly as much worry over cold weather. She's lived outside before in a similar pen.

I have a lot of pictures of the building if anyone is interested. But for right now, I thought I'd share because I'm excited it's almost done. If it were not raining today I'd have the last board in place.

[Tsanford]

That looks great, and a lot of work! Sounds like it's pretty heavy duty, and I definitely want to see some pics with moggie enjoying it!

[PitOnTheProwl]

Nice setup.
What kind of monitor?

[Solarsoldier001]

Nice setup.
What kind of monitor?

Yea what pitontheprowl said!


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[wolfy-hound]

Moggie is a blackthroat monitor lizard. Unfortunately I lost her mate Wilson a few months ago. He'd had a really rough early life and I have to guess it just caught up with him. But she's still going strong.

I got the last pinning board in place(the upper right hand board that is missing in the picture) and hung half the inside wire before getting completely fed up with trying to hammer in fence staples. Then it started to rain so I couldn't get back to it yet. All I have is about 15 more feet of inside wire and I can push the dirt down and make a small shelter and she can go enjoy it on warm days.

[jclaiborne]

Looks good, is this going to be her permanent enclosure, what are the dimensions?

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[wolfy-hound]

It has a 8x8 ft footprint and it's 6 ft tall. I'm not sure how deep the dirt will end up but it could be 1-2 ft deep eventually.

[Reinz]

Looks like it will work well.

I bet you are glad that this project is almost finished.

[pbyeerts]

Omg that's super awesome!!!! I love love LOVE the large monitors!!! I grew up in the Caribbean islands and got used to lizards everywhere. Photos please!!! Looks like a great enclosure for her - good job!


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Pamela and GINGER, my wonderful BP

1 dog, 3 cats, 1 macaw, 1 husband, 1 daughter, and GINGER


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[AllThatInThemGenes]

what an awesome project! i too would really enjoy seeing pictures of moggie enjoying her new home. I LOVE DIY projects, you have gotten all the really hard stuff out of the way and now (IMO) you get to do the really fun things; decorate the inside and add any cool finishing touches. Congrats on a really cool outdoor pen!