Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Hello I have two croc monitors everytime I try to go in the cage to pick one up they try to bite me. When I put them in a 50 gallon tank they are fine and let me pick them up without a problem. Does anyone have any tips for me on how to pick these guys up without getting bitten. The tank I have them in right now is 4'X3'. Also one of my crocs does not seem to be eating. Does anyone know of some food I should try and see why he wont eat or what should I do. These croc are under 2 foot including tail. Please help with any info you can give me. Attached is a pic of one of my crocs.

The questions you seem to be asking, shows that Salvadori are probablly not the monitor for you. These things should have been researched long before you ever got them. They should deffinatly not be kept in a 50 gallon aquarium, and even the 4'x3' is way to small. For full size adults, which you have two that will become very quickly, I would go with a minimum of 10'x10', for each one. Yours should be kept in something more like 8'x8' right now. Young Salvadori are very snappy, and agressive feeders, so you can expect to deal with a lot of bites if you insist on handeling them. If your intention is to make them handleable, you now need to accept the fact that they can be unpredictable and a bite from an adult or even young adult could deffinatly result in permanent nerve damage. I started out wanting that with my first one, but after a bite by him at about 4 months old, my idea changed real quick, and I wasn't willing to deal with that. Monitors are individuals, and because there might be someone with a very handleable one, that has nothing to do with your specific ones. They both might be calm, or one not and one is, or if they are now that might change in the future. You just never know. I feel that they should be given much space, and allowed to do what they want. They do become very inquisitived, and are always seem to have an eye on you. They do become less jumpy as they get older, but they also become bigger to the point that there would really be no way to interact with them the way I am percieving that you want. I have no idea where you got them, but I am guessing they are wild caught, as captive bred are very expensive, and judging by your hand size, and if they are under 2' then you must be young yourself. That really doesn't meany anything, but I don't think someone younger could drop 3K on a couple monitors. I have never had a monitor feed like a Salvadori. I have absolutly never had a problem with them not wanting to bust throught the glass to get a mouse, which yours should have no problem eating small ones. If one of them is not eating, you need to take it to the vet first, then check your husbandry as that is most likely the reason. But I guess all this is for nothing, because a couple of lines down, you are trying to sell them. Which here is not the place to do that. I guess, good luck with whatever your intentions are with these. Start doing all the research you can on these. You might want to ask Mark B for some info, he visits this forum. You may have to pay a few bucks, but will get some very valuable information that you need. -Jeff

I paid 1500 each for these guys from dandj in new youk. Also I'm 23 and have that kind of money. These guys are only 2 feet and captive bred. The cage i keep them in is only temp. Thanks for all your info I did research already everyone says something diffrent for the size of the cage. I was told since thse guys are small keep them in a small cage so they get use to me. It is ok for now. My other croc is now eating. Thanks again. I knw these lizards are aggressive. Some people say you have to work with them. I'm selling them I will keep them and start building them a bigger cage tomorrow. For now the small cage is good. Thanks againg for you advice.

I'm glad the other is eating now. The only thing that would make me nervous is that Herpafuana hatched their most recent clutch about 9 months ago. If you got your's from D&J, then Herpafuana produced it. That would mean that yours deffinatly came from the same clutch that mine, Rope's, and Simon's did, and mine are both 4' long. Which would mean that you have two 9 month old Salvadori that are under 2'. Something is seriously wrong here. They hatch out at about 15"-18" total length. Being that, your's has grown only about 5" in 9 months. I would be worried a little. -Jeff

4ft PLUS at least, thats is we assume correct yours came from the same Herpafauna Indonesia clutch as Crocky below and the others mentioned in the above post. Can you confirm with Danny. Please get an all clear from a Qualified Vet as we have already sadly lost one Croc on this forum below. They are Hardy but...Europe's zoo's lost 7 females last year! I will confirm this figure in my next post.

You may want to intertain this, It really does not matter what anybody tells you or if they are captive hatched or not. All that is totally meaningless. What is important is, what is happening to your animals, as a girl once told me, Here and now. Here being your place.

Croc monitors are very hardy, wild caughts rarely die, they need to be murdered. You must keep that in mind.

Back to yours, a sign of not feeding is a sign that something is wrong. Feeding and not growing is a sign that something is wrong. Realize this, a healthy croc monitor will feed on top your head, and eat your head.

Now you have a problem, first thing to do is to find out what the problem is. You have read all the crap on here, why are you asking people here? do you expect them to say something different then what has been said one million times?

But you have to start somewhere, that place is at a vets, find out if its sick or has a parasite infestation. Only a vet can tell you that, we cannot. They have an advantage, not counting all the years of training and tests and stuff. But they have tools and the actual animal in question. Yes, thats huge advantage.

It does not matter if you have a ten gallon tank or larger, as long as it provides what they need. I start my baby crocs and baby lacies in ten gallon aquaria. While some may frown, I hatched them and they will grow like weeds and mature into healthy adults. That is proven. So, why would I care what they say? That applys to what people say to you. You have to do what works for you. So start learning by going to a vet. Get a clean bill of health, then you can ask more about conditions. If they were healthy, then most likely, you would not need to ask questions, other then, how do you get them unattached from my arm. F

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Frank, you made a comment about how hardy croc monitors are (even wild caught individuals). From my limited experience with this species, I agree 100% as our's have proven to be incredibly hardy, easy to care for (relatively speaking) and rather undemanding as long as their basic needs are met. But, as I looked at the AZA studbook for Asian Monitors, I was very surprised to see how many croc monitors have died in U.S. zoos (within a reasonably short amount of time after being acquired). I would think that zoos would have an advantage with the financial resources, networks, space, veterinary care, etc. that they have available to them. I realize that there are some zoos with exceptional and knowledgeable staff and some that are not so great but I found your comment interesting.

Rob Carmichael, Director/Curator
The Wildlife Discovery Center
City of Lake Forest Parks & Recreation (IL)

A bite from these teeth when they get older

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Varanus Creations