Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I JUST PURCHASED A C.B. YELLOW TREE MONITOR YEARLING AND WAS WONDERING WHAT THE PROPER CARE INSTRUCTIONS FOR THIS MONITOR WAS INVOLVING TEMPERATURE OF CAGE, FEEDING, TYPES OF FOOD, ETC. ANYONE WHO HAS HAD PERSONAL EXPERIANCE WITH ANIMAL PLEASE LET ME KNOW ANYTHING POSSIBLE. THANK YOU, BRIAN HENDERSON

It is unfortunate that you have purchased such an animal prior to researching, or understanding their needs in captivity. Such impulse/irrational purchases is the reason why virtually all monitors(especially imported monitors) never live to see their first anniversary in captivity.

I suggest that you read through the archives of this forum, as there are dozens, if not hundreds of theads pertaining to V. melinus(which by the way are NOT "Yellow Tree Monitors". While reading about others' experiences is by no means a substitute for first hand experience, it may be able to provide some last-minute "emergency" information which could help the poor animal you bought on impulse.

In the future, I suggest that you stay away from purchasing an animal until you have gained a clear understanding of the species, and its needs and requirements for a healthy existence in captivity.

I wish your animal the best of luck.

SORRY BUT I MUST HAVE SOUNDED TO NEW ABOUT MONITORS. I CURRENTLY HAVE A 4FT NILE MONITOR AND I WAS JUST WONDERING IF THERE WERE ANY DIFFERENT CARE NEEDS FOR THIS SPECIFIC YELLOW MONITOR. I HAVE DONE PLENTY OF RESEARCH FOR THIS ANIMAL BUT I WAS WONDERING FROM PEOPLE WITH FIRST HAND EXPERIENCE WITH THIS CERTAIN TYPE OF MONITOR. THIS IS A PICTURE OF THE YELLOW MONITOR. THANK YOU, BRIAN H.

I do agree with the previous post that you should have done research on the animal before purchasing, but at least you are getting it a little late instead of never. I personally dont have a melinus but its probably likely that it wasnt captive bred unless you saw pictures of the eggs. Anyway, please be sure to give it plenty of room to climb and roam around. I am so tired of seeing and hearing people keeping their lizards in tiny boxes. Be generous with giving him space if nothing else. Considering you have a nile, you probably have enough knowledge to get you by for a while, but keep searching, hopefully someone that knows specifically about them will chime in. By the way, your picture didn't work. Best of luck.

Nobody really knows s$*T about monitors in captivity.Best results are guesses by so called experts of keepers.I've been doing this for almost 20 years and it's all still BS and attitude.Not real stuff.FR is your best bet on their needs,Goanna ranch rules!(when finished)Frank Retes actually cares and doesn't just breed them for profit,(MY OPINION).

Seeing as how FR makes more on selling feeders then he does on his monitors I'd say he cares a whole lot. Otherwise he'd be the next rodentpro and his monitors would be long gone!
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John Light
JL Exotics
Contact Me
Web Site

Hey Brian, congrats on your new addition. I don't have a lot of experience with the melinus myself (only have a baby), just wanted to chime in. I personally love my little yellow monitor, he can be a lively one at times! There are some very experienced people here, and hopefully they'll give you some good advice. Watch out though, no sugar-coating goes on in here! (That can be a GOOD thing, though)

Also, I wouldn't type your posts in all caps... it "sounds" like you are yelling.

Here's my V. melinus:

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1.1.0 Leopard Geckos (Booger & Gimp)
1.0.0 Veiled Chameleon (Lucutis)
0.0.1 Quince Monitor (Pollux)

Thank you so much for everybodies help. Please keep the information coming. Thank you, brian h.

You have opened a can of worms with this subject. I do not have any Yellow/Quince Monitors anymore due to focusing on my gecko projects but I think you will be very happy with your new monitor.
I have been working so much to see whats going on at this forum, and still the melinus is a hot topic! You will find some disslike them on here for ligit reasons and others just for the sake of arguement as there are many on this site. Also there are many who really like these guys and get just as much enjoyment out of them as someone would out of an ackie.

I would have to say they are very much like other mangrove complex, but can get more "tame" in many individuals and are less likely to bite. Also they are very orbreal and the name "tree" can be considered somewhat true but do not relate them to the other true tree monitors. The captive bred information is not confirmed so therefore I would not consider them so, but they do hold traits of being captive or farm born based on the lack of parasite count.

I am not sure why FR came up in this conversation, or why those who do not like this species even add to this thread. I think this person already has his monitor, did some research and is simply asking for productive advice, not your negative imput.

Congrats on one of my favorite monitors!

Thank you for the genuine answer. Brian H.