I hope you take this as helpful. But I think your going about this all wrong.



First gathering written information is a bit out of place. You seem to be asking about what melinus does in nature, instead of what they do in captivity. The reason I mention this is, your going to be keeping them in captivity. Try calling the folks at Forth Worth Zoo.



Next, the best way to prepare of a challanging species(melinus are extremely shy) is to practice. I know that sounds a little odd, but its not at all, all dissaplines require practice.



So practice with a similar species thats not so challanging, like indicus. Practice until you are profiecent with your expected results, that is, if your goal is to maintain a healthy individual, or successfully rear generations.



Back to why melinus are challanging, as I mentioned above they are extremely shy. With all monitors, you gage progress by behaviors. That is, you can tell what or how your monitor is doing by seeing it do something. While melinus may eat in front of you or even eat out of your hands, the vast majority of them do not exhibit any other telltale behaviors in front of you. So you have to guess.



If your concern is taming them, then these are not for you. They are not biters, but hate to be touched. If you want this species because of their beauty, then this species is not for you(most stay hidden, nearly all the time). If you need them to be tame so you can hold them, then this species is not for you, they are very very timid and everything stresses them(thats why they hide all the time).



Also a wire cage is absolutely the wrong approach. Dehydration is a constant problem with even desert type species, muchless something like melinus. Misting is of absolutely no value. Unless you mist so much you ruin the room that the cage is in. Also, the key to successfully keeping all varanids is controlling heat, lots of it. This would be very difficult and expensive in a wire cage.



Lastly, if you still want to work with this species, start with babies, and worry about raising them up. Start easy, with smaller cages, after all, if you build a giant cage and decide you are tired of seeing it empty all the time(monitors hiding) Then what good is the whole exercise? As you raise them, you will learn what is needed in a large cage, you will also learn if this species is for you. Good luck FR

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