.
.
Either way I can't wait to see.
.
my doc grounded me again, so i had to call in my daughter's bf to help me move the cage into the house. couldn't have done it without him. i'm still a wreck after the process, so the misting system is going to have to wait.
here she is, poking her head out from under her hotside hide. it's not quite a Rete's stack, which is a multi-level sandwich/hide under a set of basking lights, but it's the same concept just lower to the ground so she isn't quite as prone to 'remodeling' it.
on top of the basking platform. it's a nice, toasty 90F surface temp there.
sump for the pool. she generally poops in the water, making it fucking nasty and getting her skin infections. this will help cut that shit out, once i get the inlet/outlet flow straightened out. it's heated and filtered and i'll have snails and crawfish and moss and stuff in it as a clean up crew.
first thing she did when i put her in was run straight to the top. the reed mat on the wall is cheap and disposable and lets her utilize the entire surface of the back wall.
after she got settled in, she tested out the basking area. it's from 120-150F surface temp, which is ideal. you want them to come, heat up, and move on to doing monitor lizard things instead of sitting under lamps all fucking day.
shot of the interior of the cage before she was introduced. pump is running, lights are on, heater is on, errything works (except my fucking inflow/outflow on the pumps grrrrrr).
closeup of Anxiety Lizard under the lights
so far, it's a success but i had to do a lot of modifications to the cage build (it's expanded PVC, which is great for high temp/high humidity environments, but it's pretty not fucking great once you make one this big and they didn't include adequate supports for the sides/ceiling so the sides bowed to the point i had 1/4" gaps for the sliding doors). next time, i'll just suck it up and do another scratch build.
i still have to install my Mistking system, and finish up the vines and fake vegetation. but she's in the cage, temps are good and she's exhibiting normal behavior. i'm just wrecked and i'm going to take it easy for a couple of days.
.
on advice from another monitor keeper, changed the water feature from a glass aquarium to a big plastic hydroponics/feeder tub, raised on blocks. added nearly 30% to usable floor space, added a cooler hide spot, and got rid of the issue of the glass getting cracked by her constant remodeling activities.
i was also able to solve the inlet/outlet water flow rate issues by just adding an overflow drain. the only problem i have now is that the pump is FUCKING LOUD because it's in a plastic tub on top of two cinder blocks. i have a plan to maybe cut that down (i have some nearly half inch thick rubber mats the previous owner left i can use for noise/vibration dampeners under the water tub), and if that doesn't work i can maybe try just putting a gravity fed drain on the tub instead of actively pumping it out. i don't want to do that though, lot of potential issues come up.
all that remains to be done is adding foliage/fake climbing vines and ledges, and adding the misting system. that's going to have to wait for a day or two because my leg is all fucked up now and i'm gonna sit my fat ass down with it propped up like i'm supposed to be doing.
Ah man that tub is so much better than the glass tank. More aesthetically pleasing too. Gravity feeding water is always great since you can usually set it and forget it until the next water change, but I feel like a monitor would fuck the line up or something.
Sent from my SM-G975U using Tapatalk
yeah it's worked out much better, and she utilizes the hides under the tub as her overnight spot. she's back to feeding normally now. she *also* has had some behavior changes. she no longer sleeps underwater all the time, and i have no idea why. she may just be too disturbed from the whole ordeal, but i dunno. at least this will give her tail time to heal properly.
the drain vs pump, i'm less sure about. i have it working now so i'm kind of loath to fuck with it. my python's pond is gravity fed into a home made canister filter but it was my first go at it and my plumbing was spotty and it's been a nightmare. i'm better at it now but i'm a big fan of set it and forget it, which was the goal, but not what actually ended up happening lol. i'll keep you guys posted.
>click on this thread expecting puppies or cats
its always mf snakes or big ass lizards
Cause those are the only interesting pets =/
Sent from my SM-G975U using Tapatalk
I got you
Spoilered for huge
Spoiler: show
hi have more dog
I'm envious of you guys. I would adopt a cat if I could but the pet deposit where I am is 400 dollars each.
I’m not saying everyone should do this but our cat and dog isn’t on the lease. Luckily dog rarely barks and who would notice a cat, it’s a pet friendly apartments but fuck 400x2 for deposits and 50X2 per month in rent; these 2 animals don’t destroy anything
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
This is an actual problem.
Bunch of people registering poorly or untrained animals (usually dogs) as service animals so they can take them wherever and they act up. Wife and I were out eating a few weeks ago and a woman with a service dog was nearby, the dog was barking/huffing, and she couldn't get it to sit, but the thing had a service vest on.
Come on dude. That dog is clearly not trained to be a service animal.
Emotional support animal, not service animal. A lot of people confuse em but you cant take esa around like a service animal. Pretty much esa only requires places be accommodating to you keeping the animal around, not actually letting the dog work like a service animal.
Basically works out to places cant charge you pet fees for your esa animal. And airlines have to be more accommodating if you dare fly your animal with them.
Sent from my SM-G975U using Tapatalk
Either way, if it's a service animal or emotional support animal, if it's not properly trained I don't think it should be brought into restaurants, airplanes, and other situations where there are crowds in close quarters. That dog I spoke of is an example. The dog was clearly tense, maybe because the owner was as well, but if it won't sit nicely and it's barking/huffing at people nearby it shouldn't be there.
That's just one example, and it may be a minority for all I know, but it's not good for the dog, the owner, or the people around it.
People abuse it as well, and try to push their esa animal as a service dog, which leads into ADA issues and HIPPA. Uber/Lyft drivers especially have been hit by this for decking rides where it was obviously a fake service animal and the customer complains to UBER/LYFT lying and saying it's a service dog and the driver declined them so the driver gets kicked off the platform.
Sent from my SM-G975U using Tapatalk
the mayhem patrol:
female border collie, about six, Callie. she is made of anxiety. male husky, 4, Kumasame. as a puppy, he had all the worst qualities of a bear and a shark, he broke his baby teeth until they were razor sharp and jagged, and clawed, bit, and raised hell continuously. they're both shameless attention whores, but are really sweet.
this is the cat, Misa. she is nearly the perfect cat in that she wants nothing to do with anyone 90% of the time. once or twice a day, she will insist on someone acknowledging her, and this is all she wants. Misa is about 8 now.