Think
BIG!
Peter with one of his outdoor enclosures
today. Image by Sam Mills..
Large outdoor lizard enclosures.
Herping legend Peter Krauss reflects on the initial construction and long-term
performance of his outdoor monitor enclosures.
I
n an article published in Reptiles Australia
magazine in late 2007, I wrote about the
planning and construction of two large outdoor
lizard enclosures. I needed something to accommo-
date my two groups of large monitors; Perenties
(Varanus giganteus) and Lace Monitors (V. varius).
Today, more than ten years later, I am in a position
to review the design and relative merits of these
enclosures.
being an important factor), it was at the same time
challenging to design a type of outdoor enclosure
which provided optimal conditions for large monitor
lizards.
With the help of a friend who had experience in
construction and the building industry, we began by
laying out the site of the first enclosure. This is
nonagonal in shape, with a circumference of about
40m, providing optimal space and out-of-sight
First let’s revisit the construction phase detailed positions for individual lizards within the enclosure.
by Peter back in 2007:
We marked the perimeter with sand, including the
exact position where posts were to go. The fence
I live at the northern side of the Atherton Tablelands was to have a concrete base measuring approxi-
in Far North Queensland. The climate is tropical but mately 100mm wide x 900mm deep and a
also quite dry, boasting 300 sunny days a year, with galvanized metal top panel 1200mm high. Each
high summer temperatures and cool to cold nights in section of fence was 4m or more in length, and
winter. My property is relatively small and flat, and
would end at one of the nine metal corner posts.
has no interesting features like creeks or dams or
rocky outcrops, but over the 20 years I have lived
A bobcat was used to drill the holes for the posts and
here, we have planted some trees and shrubs, and
dig the trench for the concrete base. The trench was
yes, there were a few appropriate spaces for some
cleaned manually and mesh added. Then the
large outdoor enclosures. Although there were many concrete was poured and the corner posts were
obvious considerations (seasonal weather changes placed in position. So far so good!