# Fully automated 5x4x5 feet enclosure for Quince Monitor.



## arcticrobot (Oct 9, 2014)

Hi guys, just wanted to share with you enclosure build for my 1 year old 2ft long V. melinus. 

She might be the most spoiled varanid ever. She has mobile phone, audio system, linux server, wifi smart power outlets, heated and filtered running water, misting system, pulse-proportional thermostat, surveillance and plenty of space to roam. 

Here is imgur gallery of the build. I will also try to post in in second comment field. Please expand if it doesn load all pictures, it's over 20 there. 

I also have youtube videos of her roaming around her enclosure. 
New water setup.
New Dracaena plants.


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## arcticrobot (Oct 9, 2014)

*Overall description.
*









This enclosure is designed to house juvenile female V. melinus Pazuzu that currently is about 2 feet long(10" snout to vent and 14"-15" tail). Enclosure dimensions are 5H x 4L x 5W feet. (1.52 x 1.22 x 1.52 meters)
Total volume is about 750 gallons or 2840 liters. 
Total living surface area, including climbable walls, poles, shelves, lamps is about 100 square feet or 9 square meters. 
Enclosure is made from industrial aluminum profile(frame), oak and birch plywood(walls, shelves), plexiglas windows. 1ft organic topsoil layer. Various other materials. Lots of automation bits(more below).

*Upper level.*










Lamps are designed as accessible shelves to extend living space of active monitor species. They are built using heavy-duty materials to support weight of grown monitor. Equipped with carpet, little bridges between them, sisal ropes for climbing, stones for cover.

*Upper level relative size to tennant. *










*Main living area.*










Designed to have every possible surface to be available for arboreal monitor activities. The only surfaces not available to her are plexyglas windows and roof. 
Consists of multiple shelves, hides, basking stone, climbable net, pieces of wood and bark, poles with sisal rope, living dracaena, bottleneck, pineapple plants, various artificial plants. Water tub has been recently upgraded and not shown on this picture. More info below.

*Lights and Heating.* 










Consists of: 
3 pairs of basking(main lights)
1 pair of UVB T5 5.0 24" lamps
1 pair of support lights
1 pair of Flucker's black night lights

All main and support lights are halogen 35w bulbs mixed with LED bulbs and equipped with dimmers for temperature fine tuning.

Temperature range is 77-79F to 92-95F bottom to top with 120-130F basking area. 

All lights are wired in pairs and are controlled by 2 UBNT mPower wifi power outlets and Ubuntu 14.04 LTS server. Each pair is scheduled to go on and off at specific amount of time with about 30 minute interval to create artificial dawn and dusk situation. The only light not controlled by UBNT is night lights, which are controlled by Spyder Robotics Herpstat 2 Redline. 

Also on this image you can see surveillance, misting and sound systems, which I will explain down below.

*Basking, support, UVB and ventilation fan controller.*



















I used Ubiquiti mPower wi-fi enabled power strip with mechanical switches controlled via Ubuntu 14.04 LTS server. It allows me to create schedules, rules, monitor power consumption and gives remote access to power control. 

It also controls 80 mm intake and exhaust fans to provide additional ventilation.

*Water and humidity.*










Pazuzu has got heated and filtered running water in her enclosure. I used API Filstar XP-S canister filter, Hydor inline heater and some copper plumbing bits from Home Depot. Water is heated to 85F

*Water tub*










This is large approximately 3ft x 1.5ft water tub equipped with stones and fake aquarium greens. 

*Under the water tub.*










No space is wasted. Water tub is essentially an additional level and there is area to roam and live underneath it.

*Mistking pump to control humidity.*










Mounted to the frame and equipped with 4 nozzles to automatically mist the enclosure when humidity drops below desired level. 

*Spyder Robotics Herpstat 2 Redline.*










This pulse-proportional thermostat is equipped with humidity and temperature sensors and controls misting system and night temperature. 

It turns the pump on when humidity drops below 75% and works until it reaches 80%. 

Night temperatures are set at 78-80F

*Sound system: Jam Audio speaker and Nexus 4 cell phone.*



















Tasker app to play appropriate sounds for every part of the day. Also few volume levels with night volume being the lowest. Sounds are native Indonesian rainforest recordings for each time of the day.

*Video surveillance. *










Used 2 UBNT 720p dome cameras, connected to the same Ubuntu server that runs automation service. Accessible over the internet, recording 24/7.


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## Salazare Slytherin (Oct 21, 2009)

That looks awesome. :no1:


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## Stiffy (Feb 19, 2014)

So many parts of this are totally overkill, but in the best way possible XD

Really cool build though, and the enclosure looks great. I have always wondered just how automated you could make an enclosure to make life easier, and I'm willing to bet that short of adding an automated feeding system, this is probably the end point of that train of thought. 

Particularly like the little water spout in the bath, the monitor looks like it loves it there.


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## Sid85 (Dec 18, 2012)

This is amazing. I'd love to make something like this.


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## demon3000 (Nov 23, 2013)

Wow...looks great well done


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## chrisleigh1 (Oct 7, 2015)

Thanks for sharing , and the idea for the in-line water heater


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## Team Reptiles (Mar 5, 2012)

Wow!!!! the lighting controlled for different light levels and the raingforest sound system has just blown this build out of the water! Sir, you have most certainly won best homemade vivarium ever!: victory:


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