Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Anyone keeping yellow monitors? I am new to the species and would enjoy hearing of your experience with this monitor.

lots of keepers have tried them, not many have enjoyed it. they make for a very poor captive. that is too bad, because they are available as very high quality babies, but don't fall for the okey doke temptation, there are many better choices.

small monitor (and best overall)- Ackies
mid sized monitor- Peachies are great, but hard to get as high quality babies
large monitor- Blackthroats
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robyn@proexotics.com

Pro Exotics Reptiles

Hey Robyn,

How¡¦s it going?

I meant new to melinus, I had already received my yellow prior to this posting and was hoping for some feedback from current keepers. I have had mangrove, peachthroat, argus, some really great rudis from you guys), flavi crosses, kimberlies, etc¡K and wanted to try something different.

I have him in an enclosure that has plenty of ground space as well as arboreal space. He seems to take advantage of all areas, spending much of the day climbing and much exploring the ground area and digging.

I have heard others state that these guys just hide and are not very exciting, but so far this one has been pretty interesting. We will see how this little guy works out. ļ

So far the best monitor I have ever had all around was the black roughnecks. I kept many of them through the years and they never fail to please. I hear many people say that the peachthroats are a favorite, but the one I had was not a good monitor to keep. I acquired it back in 1989 (when they used to be scientifically named ¡§karlsmidti¡¨ and were going for 1K). He was a young one with striking colors, and with a bright blue tail. I kept him in a very large home-built wood enclosure with plenty of ground cover and high branches. He ate well but had a very nasty temper. Changing his water bowl was always a challenge and this guy would actually lunge at you. He got me a few times (luckily I was wearing gloves), holding on with his sharp nails and twisting his head and pulling while biting like a little raptor. Outside of my peachthroat, I have never seen such an aggressive monitor, but I do know that mine was just a fluke and there are many keepers that have peachthroats that are not at all like that¡K

Overall, Melinus are like a wart, you have it, it does not hurt, but its not fun either. If you stare at it, its kind of interesting, but after awhile you realize your better off without it.

They are not biters, but it may be more interesting and fun if they were. Also I think using biting a reason to like or dislike a monitor species is dumb. I do, sorry, its kinda like a person who does not express or act how they feel, but hides it inside. If you care about something, you want to know how it feels. With monitors, when they bite they are telling you, YOU OFFEND ME. And surely we should, we are big and ugly and bossy, and think we know everything. Its surprising they all don't bite.

One event made me love ackies, one of my first ackies would walk up my arm when I placed my arm in the cage. I would sometimes let it and other times, simply put it back in the cage. Then one day, I the palm of my hand to stop it and it pinched me, not a bite, a pinch. I laughed and fell to the ground laughing, I realized it was telling me to move my big fat hand. I then learned to listen to what they say. I learned that biting is one way they talk, to eachother and me.

My love of monitors is based on that, they talk. They teach me. I benefit from that, you know, learning. Melinus do not teach. If you already know, then melinus are no problem. But I like to learn.

Do they hide, as a species yes, but it kinda means, you have to give them something to hide it. Which sorta depends on your goals.

If your wanting to breed them and offer all sorts of cover for their mental benefit, you may rarely see them and the important stuff is done under cover. The fact that the worlds first breeding of this species occured by finding babies in the cage is PERFECT to discribe this species.

Are they awful? no, they are not that either. They are just kinda like a wart. You have them and they are just there. Of course, there are times in their lifes a day here, a week there. You may see them. Cheers

That wart thing made me laugh. Now when ever i see a wart i'm going to think of yellow monitors hahahahaha "its kind of interesting" hahahahaha

Sean

If I caused laughter, I am happy for that analogy. Cheers

I did not say that I disliked the peachthroat that I had, just stating that it has a very bad temper, far worse than niles that I had in the past. What I am wondering is the "karlshmidti" version that I had actually the jobiensis species (renamed) or another subsecies? I recall that the head of this monitor seemed to be longer then peachthroats that I see out there today and the tail was brilliant blue.

I appreciate the input, but so far the melinus has been a very interesting monitor. I have not seen it hiding (outside of night when it sleeps) and is out in the open during the day doing all the normal monitor things... I am not looking to breed this species, just to raise one and I have enjoyed it so far.

Your ackie story reminds me of one of my favorite monitors, kimberly's. I had a breeding group of them 6 years ago, and one particluar female would walk onto my hand when placed in the enclosure, would walk on my arm and was very calm and never flighty. I do believe that reptiles are more intelligent than most people believe, and this krm was a good example of that.

Hmmmmm, all monitors have non biters and biters. Kinda depends on their history I suppose. What you had, who the heck knows and it really does not make a matter, as we cannot see it and its too is only one individual.

I mentioned as a species, melinus, do not bite. But some individuals do. An example of most in not all species. There are exceptions and all.

About kimberlys being smarter then people, hmmmmmmm odd statement. So your saying a person could not walk out on your and and be not flighty? I have had many people walk up and arm. Some were cute. hahahahahahahaha and some were not flighty. I thought they were very smart. except for the ones that fell off.

I guess the thing is, THEY ARE WHAT YOU MAKE OF THEM. I had a storrs that thought it was a pit bull(thats gone bizerk).

So asking questions about a single monitor, thats in your hands cannot be better commented on, then by you.

As in, if your melinus is fine(normal as you say), then why not simply share that with us, show pics, etc. That way, we can all learn. Then keep us updated and see if that changes. As it has for many, But not all. Cheers

hahaha ...
I meant smarter than most people think they are, not smarter than most people. Sadly most people do think that all reptiles are mindless and dumb, which as you and I know is not the case... It is sad to see that there are still people out there that kill snakes without regard when they are found on their property, many of which assume that they are poisionous.

I agree with you, there are individuals that differ in each species. I hope that my melinus is one of those (haha) since I am now hearing that they are not an exciting species to keep. I will surely post some updates and pics soon.

Best regards,
Lou

You know, my little male never, ever hides, really.

He's out in the morning, eats, hangs out around his water pan, digs, climbs, forages, basks--All the stuff my other reptiles do. He'll climb up my arm when I go into his enclosure, check things out, takes feeders from tongs like a little gentleman...

My Doreanus, on the other hand, I never, EVER see, and if I walk into the reptile room when she's not hiding she darn near breaks her neck making a beeline for one of her hides...

Ah well.
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1.1 Ornate Uromastyx [Re and Wadjet]
1.0 Eastern Kingsnake [Duke]
1.0 Savannah Monitor [Zephyrus]
1.0 Quince Monitor [Poe]
0.1 Eastern Box Turtle [Abel]
0.2 Leopard Geckos [Ghost and Ankh]
1.0 Green Iguana (Rescue Mission) [Achilles]
0.1 Blue-Tailed Monitor [Aamesa]

One key word was little. And another was male. The real point is most hide, but as with everything, there is variation. And young males are the most outgoing. But then if you compare your exceptionally outgoing melinus to an exceptionally outgoing Flavi male(one example of many), there is no comparison, the melinus would be considered a recluse.

The reality is we can only talk about the average. And the average melinus is not a good captive. So consider yourself lucky and enjoy your melinus as much as you can. Cheers

I think "good captive" sort of depends on what you're looking for in a monitor. Poe will definately let you know if you've managed to offend him, he'll inflate and tail slap and before he was mine, when we were still trying to sell him, if you went about handling him the wrong way [which was really everyone but me and one other person], he'd try and take a nip at you. My Savannah's the same way. Someone else's Sav might be very adamant about refusing to interact with you [And yeah, I guess that's also most healthy Savannahs...]

But now that I think of it, Frank, the more outgoing Melinus I've come across or known have been male, save for one or two older females who were very, very comfortable in their surroundings.

Of course, one of my good friends has a blue tree monitor that will come up to us and accept crickets and pinkies from tongs or even fingers. But we're careful with how we introduce our Varanids to their surroundings and their enclosures and it took both Poe and Blue a long time to get to that point. An Indicus at the shop is getting to where he'll stay out for longer and longer stretches of the day versus hiding all day like he has for the past month since he came in.

I'm in my reptile room constantly, either doing something with the animals themselves, or at my desk either online or doing work for classes... My Melinus will sit out on his basking area and just watch me and everything going on around him. The Doreanus, I'd like to think, will likely come around, too. I didn't see her at all the first two weeks after I got her, and now she comes out about five times a day.

Moral of the rambling--I guess I agree with you, Frank, in that an individual may make a fine captive while the species as a whole tend to be far too shy for most, but I feel that how comfortable the monitor is with their enclosure is going to have a lot to do with how often you see them. I think Poe feels safe and knows nothing's going to try and eat him or snatch him up or anything, and if something DOES spook him, he knows there's a safe hiding spot nearby, and most monitors I've come across [though I've by no means interacted with even half of what you have, Frank] can eventually get to the same point...

...All that nonsense make any sense at all? :]
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1.1 Ornate Uromastyx [Re and Wadjet]
1.0 Eastern Kingsnake [Duke]
1.0 Savannah Monitor [Zephyrus]
1.0 Quince Monitor [Poe]
0.1 Eastern Box Turtle [Abel]
0.2 Leopard Geckos [Ghost and Ankh]
1.0 Green Iguana (Rescue Mission) [Achilles]
0.1 Blue-Tailed Monitor [Aamesa]