Posted by:
Savannah_Rai
at Sun Jun 13 22:34:03 2010 [ Email Message ] [ Show All Posts by Savannah_Rai ]
He's not overweight in the least. What you're seeing is him inflating himself as much as possible because he's feeling defensive. He didn't like being held up for the photographs, nor did he like the flash, and got quite irate when I tried to get him to stay in place. He's fed once every other day, but it's not as if I let him just gorge himself full of food. I had a vet already tell me he's perfect weight, I just need to consult the only vet that deals specifically with monitors in my city about the skin problem.
It's probably not hot enough for him, no. But at the same time, there is a humidifier, there's a hot spot in a whole quarter of my room, there's a space heater in winter to keep it at 70-75 degrees in the room, and a huge tub to soak in. I've heard of people keeping iguanas and monitors in a room. I think it is /far/ kinder than shoving your monitor in a 6x3 foot cage (the dimensions given to me via his current size) so that he can do absolutely nothing but switch sides to suit the temperatures. The only issue is the one with the skin, not his weight, and perhaps I need to cut a few things (beef heart, liver, kidney) down but he has been eating these things for two years, his color is usually astounding and before now he has had zero health issues.
I may need to try and get the heat up 5 more degrees to make it around 80 degrees but when I spoke on the phone to the vet (specialist) she told me that since I have a very warm spot, if he were cool he could easily go there. It is frigid in Africa at night. Colder, by far than 70 degrees. They sleep underground in cold burrows at night. The humidity in the room is almost too much for me, and I've put a humidifier in there since he's been out. When I had it in his cage, with the temp at 85 and the humidity high, he was /always/ in the hide, or never directly underneath the basking spot. He has never been fond spending much time in the heat and will usually go to the cooler side of the room, or right in between. He prefers the natural sunlight coming into the window to the basking light, which also has UVB.
I would raise the room temp 5 degrees and alter the diet and watch what I wash my floors with. But I doubt his room has much to do with the problem. I have people I know who have never caged their monitors as soon as they hit 1 foot to a foot and a half, and these monitors are in prime health, according to their vets...I'd prefer not to keep mine caged if I can do anything to help it. He's not a snake, and he's active, and I would even go so far as to make a big burrowing box for him, (though he has never burrowed no matter what I've tried, preferring the hides I made for him) to accommodate him.
I'm curious as to how no one knows about monitors puffing up with air when defensive or agitated...that's such a common knowledge thing. I'll take a picture of him when he's sleeping, so you can see. He's a lovely weight, much nicer than the overweight or too skinny ones I've seen...
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RE: HELP: Bosc Monitor Skin Discoloration! - Savannah_Rai, Sun Jun 13 22:34:03 2010