Reptile & Amphibian Forums

has any one delt w/ black rough necks before?.i've seen them before and was close to buying one, but i didnt know a whole lot about them besides that they are a medium sized monitor . ive read up on them and what not, but anything special i should know.?.. do they come in farm breed /wc or cb?

captive bred Roughneck babies are few and FAR between. you can either buy wild caught, or farmed babies.

unless you have tons of monitor experience, i don't recommend either. Rudis are great monitors, but not big on handling, they stress very easily, and if you are not a very good keeper, you will lose the animal in a short time. they are not hardy and willing to put up with mistakes, ignorance, or trial and error like a Blackthroat.

Rudis, or Dumeril's monitors, make for a good fourth or fifth monitor, they are not for those still learning the ropes.
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robyn@proexotics.com

Pro Exotics Reptiles

that's interesting. i see very experienced keepers/herpetologists suggesting dumerilli for beginners. why do you say they're not?

shay

Dums are recomended, in error, because they rarely bite. That is about the only reason.

Dums are not much different then any other monitor, but. They are a true moisture lover. In my opinion, a bog or swamp type monitor. Which means water management.

Its hard enough for beginers to learn temp and basic humidity control(as you can see here on a daily basis) muchless have to learn water management as well.

In my opinion, any monitor that requires water is only for the advanced keeper. Not because its a difficult problem, but because its constant work. Monitors of any type are lots of work(they ain't no kingsnake) Then add the daily maintainence of water. Most beginers will not keep up with the work for something so basic as ackies or Savs.

Also, as mention, they are mostly wild caught. With these two, there are no farm raised. Get over it, they are wild caught. Which means the added problems of parasite overloads from the stress of poor confinement and shipping across the world. Cheers

Hello,
1st time monitor owner here and I did pick the Dumerils and I have to agree that the hardest part of keeping him is the water management.I have been on here before asking advice on the food and growth but he still seems very healthy.

I choose a dumerils for one main reason and that being I want to have a water monitor one day and I knew that keeping bluetongues is far from the captive requirements of large monitors. I figure 5-10 years of dumerils will help me grasp the needed requiremnts of a water and then i can make a descion on getting one or not.

I love the dumerils even though it is alot of work to keep the humidity and cage clean and water clean. My cage does look like a swamp setup.

just wanted to put in my two cents.
thanks