Kingsnake.com - Herpforum - RE: Varanus rudicollis care question-

Posted by: JM at Tue Jun 13 15:38:37 2006 [ Email Message ] [ Show All Posts by JM ]

I've only got very little experience~ but I've been caring for Rico (our Rudi) for almost 2 years now.

I started him in a tank like your 40 gallon breeder~ but it didn't take him more than 8-10 months to start to outgrow it. You might want to start planning your cage upgrade now so it won't be such a burden on the pocketbook when you need a larger cage.

Feed~ I feed him Mice and rats almost exclusively. I used to give him crickets sometimes~ but somehow some of the little bugs always escape and are loose in my house.......so prekilled rodents is the mainstay. I gave him a live mouse once ~thought it would be good exercise for him to chase it down~ but he didn't chase it down. He waited for it to wonder by, snatched and swollowed it whole.....live.....I didn't do that again.

He also gets Boiled eggs (almost everyday~ but I have noticed the more boiled eggs he gets the more his feces stinks~ and since I have to clean it.........back to more rodents) Sometimes he gets a little cooked chicken......because he likes it and I spoil him.....but mostly prekilled rodents.

As far as temps and humidity? This is awful~ but I don't know the exact temps in his cage. I know that his basking spots get to as high as 120F and the bottom of the cage gets as low as the high 60'sF. He spends at least part of each day in each area and seems happy. I don't know his humidity~ but I don't think it is high enough~ he has stuck sheds......so sometimes I take him out in my ENCLOSED court yard and turn a sprinkler on him while I clean his cage (My son watches to be sure the monitors don�t try to rush the gate while I�m cleaning). He seems to like the water part~ but I always take a tail whip moving him back and forth. Now that he has a girlfriend (Goblyn) she also gives me some nice tail whips and hisses for my trouble. Neither have bityen me for moving them~ but they sure do make it clear they don�t consider themselves �pets.�

Hope some of that helps. I don't know that I'm doing it "Right" but Rico seems healthy~ and Goblyn seems to be doing pretty well since she moved in with us too.

Good Luck

Rico & Goblyn in the sprinkler

Rico on a basking shelf

Goblin having a snack

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Cheryl Marchek
AKA JM
The Red Dragons Den
Do not meddle in the affairs of Dragons~ for you are Crunchy and taste good with Ketchup!