Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I have a 23" BT that I have had for about 1 1/2 months now.
He came to me with a slight kink in the end of his tail. I have seen this on many BT's offered for sale over the internet.
What causes this and will it straighten out or correct itself as the monitor grows?

Thanks, E

Could be a problem that started with calcium deficiancy, or is the start, but most probably its a pinch from someone catching its tail in a cage door, or container top, it could be from the monitor tail whipping frequently. Its may or may not go away as it grows.
Just feed it a known good diet and you wont have any problems with calcium deficiancies, ie insects supplemented with Miner-all Indoor, at hat size adult mice, young quail, roaches (all supplemented), etc. Whole animals, thats the idea.

Thanks SHvar.
That would make sense (cal def) since the vet noticed his
lower jaw was soft on the left side. The vet didn't notice the tail and I forgot to mention it. That was the least of his problems at the time. He had a very rough start due to a digestive tract infection. After two doses of flagyl and 3 weeks worth of baytril injections he came around.
He gets mineral-all dusted crx every day along with sm adult mice and his jaw is much better. He was WC and obviously not
handled very well between the time of his capture and when I got
him. He now appears to be a healthy little 26" monster that
has grown over 5" in the 1 1/2 months I've had him.

If I could ask your opinion on one other thing I would greatly
appreciate it! He was from Tanzania and I am assuming he hatched
some time last fall. Sound right? Not exactly sure what the
breeding/hatching season is over there? Just trying to get an idea on his age.?

Thanks!

Age, you could be off by many years. What makes me think this now is that the problem being a calcium deficiancy, it happens over time, many importers get hundreds, and you may see a handful survive, yet they are still small, and sold as long as alive as hatchlings.
They keep them small, feed so little so they stay small, then sell them next year or the following as hatchlings. Ive seen a cape banded WT that was CBB, he was 6.5 years old when I got him for my friend, he was only 18 inches long. I spoke with the breeder who said the white marking on him stood out and he hadnt had any with a marking as such for a long time, easily 6 plus years.
Just reference it as obtaining it at that time, do not worry about actual age, so many get hung up on it and cannot get the real age. One of many reasons I like CBB monitors, they are so much better captives, also you know how old they really are, worth the high price you pay, and the trouble you go through to find a real CBB.

Being a herper for 10 years I knew better than to buy a WC
animal. I have always wanted a BT and fell into the "puppy in
the window at the pet store" syndrome when I saw it. I fully agree with you on paying more for a CBB animal for many reasons
which would be another whole topic/thread.
At any rate this experience has given me even more incentive
to someday breed BTs for other herpers and hopefully reduce the
need to rely on unscrupulous importers for a better suited animal
to the trade.
Oh, I was refering to my BT as "he" because his vent is large
and I am noticing the bulge in the base of the tail. My vet thinks he is also a male so I have named him Zulu which I thought
was a good name for an African monitor species.
Thanks again for your thoughts and help! This is a great place
for herpers of all calibers, budding or expert.

Our monitors when it comes to monitors. We are all learning from these creatures, when you stop learning from the animals, and follow published papers and books you will be stuck.