Reptile & Amphibian Forums

This weekend I purchased 2 three month old kimberly rock monitors, both siblings raised together from birth, from a breeder named Rob Charillo in Connecticut. He's bred kimberlies for some years and frequently offers hatchlings at local expos, so I'm sure he's very knowledgable when it comes to their care, but I want to make sure I'm keeping them correctly here.
At the moment, I'm keeping them in a ten gallon tank, up on a stand since Rob told me that his kimberlies really prefer to be able to look down, to be high up. It is also a fairly tall cage for this size, because he warned me that young kimberlies are excellent jumpers and that I should be sure they cannot reach the screen. However, this is making heating the basking spot more difficult, he told me to keep it at around 115 to 120 degrees, with the cool end of the tank around 85. At the moment, I'm heating the tank with a 60 watt halogen floodlight, and the basking spot temp is only getting up to about 110, with the cool side of the cage about 75-80 degrees, depending on whether the heat is on in the house (reptile room is adjacent to the boiler room). I've had them for two days now but they still have not eaten a cricket, and I want to make sure I get this right. I built a small Retes stack for their tank, with 1/4 inch wooden panel squares of 10X10, 8X8, and 6X6. The layers are separated by 3/4 inches on each level. The substrate in the tank is a mix of washed playsand (no silica in this kind) and coconut fiber, as Rob recommended it and has had a lot of success with it. I just want whatever will help these little monitors to thrive, any information from experienced kimberly keepers would be wonderful, thanks,

Evelyn

Deeper substrate to get the stack closer to the light. The stacks are all wrong though. The sapce between the boards needs to be small enough so they can wedge themselves in. I use half inch spacers on only one side of each level. I also tilt mine up against the side of the tank for the pilbaras I am keeping to simulate rock slabs.

The basking spot definitly needs to be higher, thats important. One thing i would recommend is to get a wooden enclosure as this helps keep the heat in as well as give monitors a sense of security. I use a 7 foot salt water aquarium (glass) for one of my monitors but instead of a screen on top i built a wooden top to go over it with holes cut for the heat lamps. I also put dark non-see through paper on the back and sides of the tank in hopes of making her feel more secure ('im not too sure if it helps much but it surly can't hurt.)

Another very important thing to do, other then raising that basking point, would be to give them as much privacy as possible. Offer a few crickets then leave them alone. Don't bother them anymore then you have to, changing water, feeding, adjusting tank ect. Just give them their space, their food and their temps and they should come around.
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2.3 Bearded Dragons
1.0 Pastel Ball Pythons (NERD Line)
0.0.1 Water Monitors
1.1 Pastel Red Tailed boa Het. for Albino
1.1 Yellow Ackie Monitors
And Counting...

Hi Evelyn,

Congrats on the glauerti, they are awesome. I purchased 4 babies from Rare Earth about a year ago. They grew very quickly and have produced a few clutches of eggs already (female is gavid again). I was lucky to get some great advice from some very experienced keepers which I feel was critical to my success in raising these jewels. I'll pass on what I learned.

First, the screen top is a no-no. Baby monitors (especially thin kims) can dehydrate very quickly. If your basking temps are appropriate, all of the moisture will rise right out of the cage with the radiating heat. I used plastic tubs to raise the babies and I cut out a small square right out of the plastic top and put a light fixture right into the top, in order to minimize moisture loss and get the heat closer to the monitors.

Second, I would alter those stacks so that the babies can wedge themselves in tight. They will feel more secure and likely perform better for you. I also let mine rest at an angle by screwing a small strip of moulding to one side of the plywood.
I used a thick layer of sandy dirt as a substrate, which I kept moist, so that the babies could wedge themselves under the wood and sit in a damp environment if they chose.

Also, I don't know if you can get enough of a temperature range in a ten gallon, as it is pretty small. You might want to try a larger plastic tub with opaque sides. My kims used the hiding areas all over the tank including areas that only got to 70F.

Good luck.

Will

Here is a shot of mine at three months, right after I moved them into their trough.

Hi Will, get advice. Did any eggs hatch? hahahahahahahaha Our site is up now, by the way.

I am still interested in getting some and yours are beauties. Cheers

Hi Frank,

I do get advice...actually all of my best advice has been from you (thank you by the way).

Actually, the second clutch died in my October power outage, while I was out of town, on my honeymoon. My power was out for three days and my house was at 50F for quite a while. The eggs began to collapse a couple of weeks later. She layed again in the beginning of December, 6 good eggs and a couple of slugs. She is about ready to nest again as they bred about a week ago and she is as big as a house. I recall that you mentioned that my temps might need to be tweaked a bit to improve the clutch size. I put slightly higher wattages in the fixtures and put them on dimmers. Over the span of a couple of day, I adjusted them to get a better range. The pair both move between the 135-140F hot spot to the 74-79 cool spot quite a bit, so we'll see with this clutch how things look...If I can keep my nose out of there and not disturb her.

Oh yeah, If I hatch some, you absolutely will get first crack at the first ones I let go of (I plan on keeping babies for future stock). Thanks Frank.

Will

I hope it goes well, I think you have all dialed in but the actual hatching(incubation).

I would never expect your first babies, I know, I always keep the first ones, as they are my babies, if for no other reason. hahahahahahahaha.

From the last pic of the female, she looks great. Cheers