I will get with Quin later to provide any thoughts on artificial hides (we have had them in the past). I do know, with our cage setup here, it was a learning process. Some advice I would give is, when making a cage draw up some plans in advance, make careful measurements, and build the cage before making the final move in of the monitor. Unfortunately, the monitor ending up in our life was not exactly planned at the time, but we couldn't leave her to her fate. As for escape attempts, I can fill you in on some of what I know with our dealings with her. We have had some close calls and issues with the hinged door. More specifically the clay coating to close the gap along the bottom. We have since replaced the trouble spots with wood which is working much better. She has also gotten under the lining at the top as a result of not using enough staples to pin it down, one good swipe with her claws showed us that problem. Being such an intelligent creature we felt she needed more stimulating activities than just a base cage set up. She does play with some of the items we have set up for her. Though I have never caught it on camera, she does enjoy a low hanging bird swing we put in (honestly I can''t figure out her attraction to that one, she's like a toddler on swing set), as well as a feeding activity we set up, video of that in action here: kzfaq.info/get/bejne/gNuRh7mds8q-cmg.html this one you can see she really enjoys, as well as a few simple ground level items. We also make feeding time a social activity. Hope some of that information will help you on your way to getting a monitor of your own. Good luck! ~Ian

kdogg hay I do not use any artificial hides, however I am sure they would not hurt. I try to keep things as natural as possible in the tank and an OVC hide would not fit in. I just put a few pre-dug hides in and let her make more if she wants.

kdogg hay as for escapes she has managed to slip through a few times. I wish I planned this cage out more but to be honest it was planned, cut, and built all in 1 day. So I made many mistakes with it. With better planning she wouldn't havw been able to escape

thank u 2 for the info atm im at 8f wide 14f long my plants and misting system should be coming in soon i want to get a baby so i'll start it in the 100 gl then move it to the bigger ive added 3ft of soil so far should add more or is that fine and ok hide type was my biggest concern ive done like 3 yrs of research so im ready to get 1 of these

kdogg hay 3 feet of soil is plenty fine. In fact its more than I have. Sounds like you know what your doing and you'll have one happy little monitor!