I actually don't know what to tell you.

The problem is most likely not nesting, If you have a female and she has cycled, theres more problems to be concerned with then nesting.

Althought always having good nesting choices is a wise thing.

I would take her to the vet and have her Xrayed or ultra-sounded.

You need to find out the problem before you can apply a cure.

I hate to tell you, but in most cases like yours, they lose the female.

As husbandry got better for Iggies, my vet was seeing lots of females with egg retention problems. Most people lost them if they were not taken to the vet. Again, this is a report, not what is possible.

The vet normally spayed the females and all was well.

There is a fella here on this site that has a Blackthroat that was spayed many years ago and has remained a wonderful healthy pet.

If your intentions is not to breed them, I suggest you go that route. If not, your going to have a strong possibility of losing her, EVERY FEW MONTHS, if you keep her healthy.

If your intentions are to breed her, then your already to late and still have a strong possibility of losing her.

The problem with varanids is, they have a very particular nesting drive. Up to and including Type of soil. If its not the right type of soil for ground nesters, then it makes no difference if you have deep nesting or nest boxes or whatever. They simply have a strong desire to nest in certain types of soil.

There are many many misconceptions and discussion over nesting, but most have no real experience. The reality is, these animals know and recognize what to nest in, just by smelling it. They do not dig and dig and dig.(test digging) When that occurs, its normally to late, as in, its panic time, lay or die.

Also a huge area of debate about nest boxes is the name. You put some manner of box in a cage and call it a nest box. The problem is, you call it that. The concern is, what does the monitor call it.

The term nest box should be past tense. that is, you can call it a nest box after the female successfully nests in it. Up until then, its simply a box. And thats what the monitor recognizes it as. I hope you understand that.

As mentioned, theres more to it then a BOX with dirt. Humidity, lite levels, temps, security, etc are all very important. Simply put monitors have a very long gestation, so they place their eggs in very secure places, and I don't care if its a termite mound or deep in a burrow. Those places must have all the things mentioned above in order for the monitor to lay in.

One area thats so often ignored is lite levels, monitors simply do not nest in areas where theres lite. It must be totally dark is SUCCESS is to be achieved.

Anyway, I do not like these situations where good husbandry can cause problems and the loss of an animal. If your female is gravid, you did a great job supporting that, but are totally unprepared for the next step. Which is a critical one. Good luck



This little thing hatched yesterday.hahahahahahaha

[ Reply To This Message ] [ Subscribe to this Thread ] [ Hide Replies ]