Reptile & Amphibian Forums

wanting to know if anyone has any expierience keeping them and where can i find info.

I acquired a hatchling back in August and have found this to be a very rewarding species so far. I have heard from others that they can be very shy and spend much time hidden. I have been fortunate so far as this one has been a very interesting monitor to keep and study.

It is not at all skittish and is very active, always up to something, spending much of the day climbing up in branches and then retires each night in his burrow. This little monitor is very curious and watches everything you do when reaching into the enclosure, even approaching my arm or hand curiously. The interesting thing about the tunnels he digs is for the last month he has been burying the entrance to it every morning and then digs it out at night. I have never seen this type of behavior in any other monitor species that I have kept in the past.

Keep in mind that you could end up with a completely opposite and very shy animal with this species. I have heard repeatedly from other keepers that they never see their melinus as theirs were constantly hiding. On the other hand there is a good amount of keepers that have one like mine. Either way I would imagine that you would be much better off with a very young juvenile, as maybe the shy ones are the older wild-caught melinus…

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dragonbreeders.com

Nice picture!

yea that is on gorgous yellow they look to be an awesome species to work with if you can get a hatchling or young juvie,and thanks for the info.I had a couple of savannahs in the past but had to sell my whole collection when i got deployed with the guard and as im not getting deployed again defintely want to get back into monitors.so anyone with more info it would be great

Robyn at ProExotics gave me a GIANT male, this male was another great Melinus!
I passed him off to a friend of mine.
This male has sired a few clutches of MelinusxIndicus.
He is still a very personable outgoing Melinus!
Just my 2 cents.
Mike
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Mike's Monitors!

the info i was lookin for was more towards temperment and size if they are strictly terrestrial or semi arboreol and if the basics for them were the same as most monitors.im good as knowing the across the board stuff(basking area 130f surfacetemp cool end of cage being 78-82f soil substrate enough to burrow in preferable lots of hides humidity around 60 -70% feed young ones daily adult ones less often depending on the size of prey.that sounds about right to me sound good to you guys

Hey Mike,
I saw some of his babies at Tinley Park just this year.
Mike

Piason
What did you think of them?
Mike
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Mike's Monitors!

I have had a yellow monitor for three years and her behavior has changed drastically. I got her as a newby at around four inches and now she is roughly three feet. She has gone from hiding all day for nearly a year and half, to now watching everything and defending her cage like a good monitor. I have no complaints about this species. Beautiful, smart, curious, active.

Glad he is doing good! Seems like your doing a good job of meeting his/her needs.
Mike
Snakes at Sunset

Friends don't let friends get Melinus monitors.