I acquired a hatchling back in August and have found this to be a very rewarding species so far. I have heard from others that they can be very shy and spend much time hidden. I have been fortunate so far as this one has been a very interesting monitor to keep and study.

It is not at all skittish and is very active, always up to something, spending much of the day climbing up in branches and then retires each night in his burrow. This little monitor is very curious and watches everything you do when reaching into the enclosure, even approaching my arm or hand curiously. The interesting thing about the tunnels he digs is for the last month he has been burying the entrance to it every morning and then digs it out at night. I have never seen this type of behavior in any other monitor species that I have kept in the past.

Keep in mind that you could end up with a completely opposite and very shy animal with this species. I have heard repeatedly from other keepers that they never see their melinus as theirs were constantly hiding. On the other hand there is a good amount of keepers that have one like mine. Either way I would imagine that you would be much better off with a very young juvenile, as maybe the shy ones are the older wild-caught melinus…


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