Caging Question

Hi, i currently have a 1.5 ft argus monitor that im moving from a 40 gal breeder tank into a custom built tank i made. Its demensions are 5x4x3. I wanted to know what the most used substrate was for the tank. Im afraid if i use a soil mixture, that the water will rot the wood. Would a dry dirt work as long as a kept a large water container to keep the humidity up? All help is appreciated

Ideally you should waterproof the wood, and use dirt as the substrate. Moisture in the bottom layers of the dirt both supports both humidity and a cool place for the monitors to retreat to if necessary.

You can waterproof the wood and then to be sure, lay a non-permeable barrier under the dirt. That way you are double covered.

Good luck!

Unfortunately the wood is already put together for the most part, but what kind of barrier did u have in mind to put inbetween the dirt and wood?

I like the idea of waterproofing the wood but am not a fan of adding the additional protection of a waterproofing membrane, which another poster seems to be suggesting with the mention of a non-permeable membrane.

Intuitively this seems like a good idea, but the problem with it comes when moisture gets trapped between the membrane and the sealed wood. The issues are the accelerated degredation of the sealer as well as a place for mold and mildew to develop. And I can tell you that it can be very difficult to truely seal a membrane in a way that would prevent moisture from developing underneath. With only one sealer or membrane in place vapor is able to migrate and reduce the chances of moisture build up.

My suggestion is to pick one method of sealing the wood and stick with it.

For an already built cage you still have choices. One method that is very popular with monitor keepers is to laminate panels of fiberglass reinforced panel onto the cage floor and walls. Then only the seams need to be sealed with silicone or some sort of caulk and are the only area where moisture penetration can occur.

Another method is to seal the wood with epoxy or polyester resin, perhaps in conjuction with a fiberglass cloth or some other sort of reinforcing cloth. Similar to this is the use of epoxy paint, like those used on pools or garage floors.

I know of one monitor keeper who uses garage floor epoxy paint exclusively and has done so in some pretty large cages with very deep substrate. They evidently have held up great. He does use the solvent based variety as they are more durable so if you go that route make sure to use a respirator and be sure to mix the epoxy correctly and allow plenty of cure time.