Below left and right: Purpose-designed enclosures
for Kimberley Rock Monitors. Note the bark and
fake rock covering walls, and the angled branches
to facilitate optimum use of vertical space. The Re-
tes stack is built by an offset method to provide tight
crawl spaces at any height. Images by Rob
Grabowski.
and leaf litter. This new arrangement also coincided
with a move to our new reptile room. It was starting
to cool down for winter at the time and the new
room, while being well insulated, did not have
enough enclosures running to build up ambient
temperature sufficiently, so I chose to run the lights
on a 24-hour cycle for the next few months.
During this time the young Kimberley Rock
Monitors grew rapidly, and at one year of age they
were transferred in their respective groups to much
larger enclosures. These contain multiple hollow
logs, with bark covering three walls to permit
additional use of vertical space and large Retes
stacks built in an offset fashion. This is something I
have been experimenting with; the levels are
stacked with only a single spacer or riser on one
side, in such a way that the tiles lay on an angle.
The animals therefore have the opportunity to find a
tight spot at any height. Substrate is a mix of sand
and coir peat, lighting and heating is once again
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