Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Hey guys.

First post, longtime lurker.

Okay, so I work at a shop that specializes in reptiles. I'm the Varanid girl, I guess. I keep monitors and have awesome luck with them overall, but I don't mess with the Niles very much.

But here's the thing.

We recently got in four young Niles, tiny little guys maaaaybe five or six inches long. Well, we put them in a good sized tank together, and we kept an eye on them. They were all eating good and whatnot, and everyone was of good body condition. No loose skin, no exposed hips, bright eyes, etc.

I didn't work for about a week, and yesterday when I came in and fed out the monitors, I noticed the smallest of the trio still at the shop [we sold one] was looking kinda' puny.

I gave them their crickets, and sat back and watched, and I noticed the little guy, while he was eating, wasn't eating quite as much as the others.

Today I seperated him out from the others. He's got a hide, good basking log, sizable water dish, etc. Ambient temps are about 86.7 degrees, cool end is about 76.5. Basking area, when I got it with the temp gun right after setting up before leaving the shop for the day, was around 105. I'm sure that'll go up to around 120 or so, since he's right behind the leopard lizard enclosure and on the same lights, pretty much, and the leopard's basking area runs about 121.4. I put cardboard over the side of the tank that faces out [he's behind two other cages where no one can mess with him] so now he can't see all the action going on around him. He ate a few crickets for me, and I have tomorrow off but I'm stopping by to check on him. I think one of the staffers is gonna' try and give him a teeny, tiny pinkie mouse and see if he takes it.

I'm thinking stress is causing most of our[my] problems with him.

Buuut. Since I'm only seventeen and don't have the experience of most of the others here, I was hoping I could get some input here as to what else I might be able to do for the little guy.

He's a cutie and I'd hate to lose him.

Any advice? Figured I'd get better results here than the subforum.

pet stores....thats a whole nother convo

with only minor experience in shipping/importing of reptiles, I can say I honestly don't want to know much more.

while is possible they may have been transported appropriately, its more likely these lizards, like most imported animals were put through horrific conditions.

Sometimes the damage has been done and things are out of your hands. Good luck.

Heh, we're far from your average pet store.

The store my boss had before this one was like this huge warehouse, nothing but reptiles and saltwater fish. My boss' husband [who works at the shop as well] is a herpetologist.

Our reptiles are absolutely spoiled rotten, and our reptile section is pretty much the largest section in what's a HUGE store. Reptile-wise we'll carry just about anything that isn't hot or illegal. I spend a lot of a time, as a result, talking Average Joes away from getting an animal that they obviously can't handle. Our animals are all in good health, and we're the only petshop I know of that has a Blue Tree Monitor on the sale floor tucked into a quiet little corner who is absolutely thriving.

Apologies if that was long-winded or came across as snide, but I'm the sort of person who doesn't aprove of petstores for the most part either, but I was so impressed by this one that I wound up working there about a year ago. :] It's really an awesome place.

But yeah. Thanks for your input, it's much appreciated! :]

the most basic thing is temperatures. if you can only take a guess at what temps are, based on the osmosis theory of "the cage over there", then that would be indicative of a larger problem.

it doesn't matter what the gecko temps are, it matters what this particular cage temps are, and how you are measuring them (strip? dial? digital thermo? temp gun? finger?).

aside from that, socialization is a field unto itself, and there are no easy answers for problems there, aside from the animal needs it own setup.

best of luck.
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robyn@proexotics.com

Pro Exotics Reptiles

Uh, read my initial post a bit better? Or maybe I was a little unclear, though I know I said in my first post that I checked the temps with the temp gun before leaving. The litle guy's enclosure didn't have time to heat up all the way, because I set him up about half an hour before we closed for the night.

All our reptiles have under-tank heating via a system of heat tape set underneath pegboard. All the enclosures sit on this heated pegboard. So, first off, the Nile's on the same pegboard as the the leopard lizards [not leopard geckos. Leopard lizards.]. The heated pegboard is the same temperature. The overhead lights are a system of recessed lighting that runs the length of the shelves all the cages sit on, so since the Nile's new enclosure is lined up with the leopard lizard's, my guess was it'd get about as hot.

I went by today and checked the digital thermometer that was reading the ambients, and it was about 88 degrees. Temp gun put the basking at about 125.

Temperatures I'm not as worried about compared to advice as to what else I could do for the little guy to bring him back around. He seemed to have perked up a little, but he still didn't eat much today from what I was told by my coworkers.

good luck then.

I WISH there was somewhere around here where i could work with reptiles all day and get paid for it, Ha (that didn't look like a reptile concentration came)

Haha, I love my job. So much.

My coworkers kinda' suck at decorating the enclosures, though, so besides making sure the Varanids are in the best possible health it's my job to make things be as natural as possible for all the amphibians and lizards. I keep things looking nice and everyone comfy. :]

These guys are hardy lil buggers, so give him all the food he'll take, keep his water clean and make sure hes got lots of good hides.

Wouldnt be surprised if he starts out growing the others soon enough

Yeah, I worked today so I got to keep a good eye on him for a while.

He was moving around a lot more today, and he spent a good hour chasing one very wily little cricket around. He spent some time swimming in his water bowl, pooped, basked, ate a little, and then dug under the substrate to take a nap. He's been left alone for the most part the past few days, but he's actually looking a lot better. Hopefully he'll pull through okay.

Just a thought- if it seems like hes having hard time catching the crickets, try offering something slower- rip the jumper legs off a few larger crickets and let him have a go

small hisser roaches go over great with these guys and they are pretty easy to catch too.

if you care to try, small fish (NOT "feeder" goldfish- use mollys, danios, swordtails, platys, etc) were what my Nile was fed on primarily when he was quite young, as he eventually lost interest in cricks and wasnt quite big enough for pinks. i used to hand feed them to him.... which soon enough earned me a trip to the first aid kit, hehe

fingers look very much like prey items- lesson learned, lol

Still, the fish are good for a few reasons- I think they tend to stimulate feeding with young Niles, as im sure they eat quite a few minnows and small fish as youngsters in the wild; catching them is great exercise for your animal (youd be surprised how hard it can be to catch a goldfish in your water feature using only ur mouth, lol); and lastly, its just plain cool to watch a young Nile snag a fish outta the water- if youve never seen it, def worth trying at least once with your runt.

Good luck.

I have to say that I think you're doing about all you can do for it. There's a chance that being by itself and not having to compete for food and/or stressed by harassment will do the trick, at least, as far as what all you can do for it.

Like what was already mentioned about its shipping/holding conditions and the stress its had to deal with already, things may be out of your hands.

I'm no expert, by far, but I think you're doing all that can be done for it. Needless to say, if I'm wrong, someone here will correct me. If I am wrong, I'd want them to.

Best wishes!
HH
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