Enclosure sizes?

[marina322]

Hi I was wondering if it was possible to make 2 separate enclosures for an adult ornate monitor and an adult asian water monitor in a room that is 11ft x 15ft. If it is too small I will hold off on buying another monitor but if I am able to then ill get it. It seems too small to me but if people have done it before and the monitors were "happy" with their enclosure size then ill give it a go. Any thoughts?

[chairman]

A general rule for lizard cage sizes is for the width of the cage to be 150% of the lizard's adult length and the cage length to be 300% of the adult length. With ornate monitors attaining 6' in length, you're looking at a roughly 9' x 18' cage. What you will essentially need to do is waterproof the bottom 4' of your room and, with the exception of a dam near the door adequate to hold back a foot of substrate, use the entire room as the enclosure.

I would recommend screwing 1/2" or 3/4" plywood to the bottom 4' of all the walls (drywall isn't load bearing, you'll need the wood to provide stability). Build a 1.5' or 2' tall wall out of 2x4s and plywood in front of the door to the room such that you can still open the door. Make sure to anchor the tiny wall to the side walls off the room and the floor (screws work if your house has a wood floor, there are bolts that you drill into concrete for slabs). Then use frp (those plastic walls they use in commercial bathrooms) to line the floors and walls, making sure to seal the edges with 100% silicone, I believe that GE Silicone I is the product you'll want to use.

Then add about a foot of substrate, a water dish large enough for the animal to soak in (short wall stock tanks work), and hang basking lights from the ceiling.

Your best bet would be to pass on the water monitor. If you get another ornate or a nile and grow the two up together then they may cohabitate in that space. Fighting is very common but it is more likely to be "social" than lethal if they grow up together.

Others have raised ornates in less space but the animals typically die prematurely (ie in 5 years instead of 15-20).