Well its finally done. This is pretty much what I designed a few months ago. I took an above ground box, cut the bottom out, added a portal for access on top, built a tunnel to get to it, built an above ground covered chamber for lounging and keeping rain out, and, with the help of Cory and Gus dug a really really big hole to put it in. Here's the play by play:
Cory and Gus dug the majority of the hole in less than an hour. I couldn't believe how fast it went. I dug the entrance tunnel part. Here are the fella's just after breaking ground.
Here they are less than an hour later.
Here is the box. I've started the portal here and already added entryway cover.
Here is the inside. You can see the first temp probe mounted to the wall there.
Here it is in the ground with the tunnel attached.
And here it is partially buried. I had to carefully fill it in around the sides so there wouldn't be any air pockets that could channel water during the rainy season.
Here it is partial buried with only the access portal sticking up.
Here's the access portal showing the interior lid. There is 1" thick foil-backed insulation on the underside of this lid.
Here is the above ground lounging chamber. In the background you can see the outer portal lid. There is also 1" thick foil-backed insulation on the underside of that lid.
Here's the above ground lizard lounge all covered up and ready to go. Soon it will be covered with weeds and look very "natural". I built this because it stays very cool down below in the main box, and I wanted Cleo to have an above ground warmer area to hang out in, but still feel secure.
Here is the recipient of all this work enjoying her tunnel.
Here is the interior of the above ground "Lizard Lounge" showing the second temp probes location.
Here are the temps. The left one shows the temp at the back of the lizard lounge on the top. The right one shows the temp and humidity in the underground box. The lower numbers are ambient air temps where the base units that you see here are sitting. It says the outside humidity is 16%, but its lower. These gauges just don't go any lower than that.
I felt like it was just too cold down there and leaving the lid off on a 90 degree day did not change the temp even one degree, so I stuck a 5 gallon jug of hot water down there and put the lids back on. That warmed it all the way up to 64 from 57. This still seems too cold, but I imagine underground temps in Argentina must do the same thing. Am I wrong?
She figured out the tunnel really quickly on her first day out there. So now whenever I approach the cage she dives into her tunnel. I'm not too worried about it. Every time I move a lizard outside it takes a week or two for them to settle down. She already calmed down a lot after just two days. She let me open the door and snap this pic while only calmly walking away.
For this one she was sitting right in front of her escape tunnel. I snapped the pic and took one step and, POOF!, she was gone!
I'll get better pics of her as she calms down over the next few days. She's exploring and using the whole cage already and each time she sees me she's a little calmer. She'll be eating from my hand in a few days. Hope you like my latest project. I'll be watching those temps all summer long to see what it does. Next project is Daisy's underground box. Since sulcatas don't hibernate, Daisy's will have power and a heat source too.
Cory and Gus dug the majority of the hole in less than an hour. I couldn't believe how fast it went. I dug the entrance tunnel part. Here are the fella's just after breaking ground.
Here they are less than an hour later.
Here is the box. I've started the portal here and already added entryway cover.
Here is the inside. You can see the first temp probe mounted to the wall there.
Here it is in the ground with the tunnel attached.
And here it is partially buried. I had to carefully fill it in around the sides so there wouldn't be any air pockets that could channel water during the rainy season.
Here it is partial buried with only the access portal sticking up.
Here's the access portal showing the interior lid. There is 1" thick foil-backed insulation on the underside of this lid.
Here is the above ground lounging chamber. In the background you can see the outer portal lid. There is also 1" thick foil-backed insulation on the underside of that lid.
Here's the above ground lizard lounge all covered up and ready to go. Soon it will be covered with weeds and look very "natural". I built this because it stays very cool down below in the main box, and I wanted Cleo to have an above ground warmer area to hang out in, but still feel secure.
Here is the recipient of all this work enjoying her tunnel.
Here is the interior of the above ground "Lizard Lounge" showing the second temp probes location.
Here are the temps. The left one shows the temp at the back of the lizard lounge on the top. The right one shows the temp and humidity in the underground box. The lower numbers are ambient air temps where the base units that you see here are sitting. It says the outside humidity is 16%, but its lower. These gauges just don't go any lower than that.
I felt like it was just too cold down there and leaving the lid off on a 90 degree day did not change the temp even one degree, so I stuck a 5 gallon jug of hot water down there and put the lids back on. That warmed it all the way up to 64 from 57. This still seems too cold, but I imagine underground temps in Argentina must do the same thing. Am I wrong?
She figured out the tunnel really quickly on her first day out there. So now whenever I approach the cage she dives into her tunnel. I'm not too worried about it. Every time I move a lizard outside it takes a week or two for them to settle down. She already calmed down a lot after just two days. She let me open the door and snap this pic while only calmly walking away.
For this one she was sitting right in front of her escape tunnel. I snapped the pic and took one step and, POOF!, she was gone!
I'll get better pics of her as she calms down over the next few days. She's exploring and using the whole cage already and each time she sees me she's a little calmer. She'll be eating from my hand in a few days. Hope you like my latest project. I'll be watching those temps all summer long to see what it does. Next project is Daisy's underground box. Since sulcatas don't hibernate, Daisy's will have power and a heat source too.
