Posted by:
murrindindi
at Sun Jun 23 11:11:35 2013 [ Report Abuse ] [ Email Message ] [ Show All Posts by murrindindi ]
: basking spot 125 - 133 ambient temps 88 - 93 (hot side)/82 - 78 (cool side) humidity 50% hot side/75% cool side 6 inches of packed down dirt a hide water bowl and i have a black garbage bag at one end of the tank so people walking by do not disturb or stress him out.
i had to take him out of his cage friday to fix his hot spot so i put him in bath tub until i was done with his enclosure then put him back in and left him alone for the rest of the day. (offered him superworms with calcium d3) saturday didnt touch him all day and now its sunday and he still hasnt eaten, with crickets having been running around his enclosure for 2 days now, as well as being offered superworms. i understand he needs to acclimate, but im just getting a little worried because he just lies there with his eyes closed for almost 24 hours a day, and barely walks around. he is about 14 inches long, so still very small. just hoping to get some replies from experienced monitor keepers, thanks! .
Hi, it might help if you can put a few photos up of the whole enclosure. You must stop all forced handling, the monitor must be allowed to fully acclimate to the enclosure, that can take many weeks, until then you should just be leaving food, water, etc. Not feeding at this stage is not surprising nor is it anything to worry about, the main thing is that the animal remains hydrated, at this time it will be extremely stressed. The enclosure must have lots of hiding places (cover), meaning the animal should be able to travel throughout almost without being seen (you can use large plastic plants, logs, etc, particularly around the feeding and basking areas). You only need to know two temps; the surface at the basking site @ between approx. 50 to 60c (120 to 140f), then the coolest ambient (air) @ approx. 21 to 24c (72 to 75f). What type of thermometer/hygrometer are you using to measure the temps and humidity, analogue or digital? Even a hatchling can take a fuzzie mouse, if it`s too big to swallow, cut along the length while still frozen, then obviously defrost before feeding.
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