Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Ok.
We just recently received 2 baby Water Monitors.
I fell in love with the one and I am going to be taking him home here in a couple of days.
I got rid of my 6 Red Belly Piranhas and I am going to be using the 75 Gallon tank they were in for my water monitor.
I have read alot of care sheets and FAQ's about these lizards and I feel more than preparedto take care of one, I have owned many lizards befor and I am finally ready to settle down and choose one lizard (for now).
I just have a few questions.
For substrate I am going to use clean dirt.
For light I am still unsure because many pages said that these lizards dont need UV light and others say they do.
I was going to go with a repti sun or repti glo bul but im not going to if I dont have to.
Big water bowel.
Buncha hide spots.
Some big peices of grape vine for him to crawl around on.
Some flat rocks for basking.
What size bulb would be recomended for a 75 gallon tank to keep the right temp? Im probably going with a 150 watt ZoMed and see what the temps are.
By trial and error ill find one thats perfect and when everythings ready im going to throw the little guy in his new home.
I am very excited to get this little guy and any mmore info you think is neccessary for me to know would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks alot.
--Cody

how do you plan on keeping the humidity in the fish tank? i'm sure you know after researching this species that water monitors require high humidity to keep them healthy. i would suggest you think about a different kind of enclosure with a solid top in the near future.

cheers

I have a couple water monitors myself...one is about a year, the other is slightly less

here are my opinions...
Dirt is good. Make sure he has enough to burrow.
I think its pretty okay to say they don't need UV, but it won't hurt if you are unsure.
Make sure his water dish is as large and you can get. It helps with humidity too.
A 150 bulb is huge. You could do fine with a 100 watt or possibly a few smaller ones. I use a 100 watt and a 75 watt(2 bulbs) to provide temps in a cage that is 7 feet long and 4 feet wide.
Consider building a custom cage as soon as you can because an aquarium is less than ideal.
Good luck! You'll love him.

I guess Im just going to not go with the Water Monitor.
I wanted him to put in my room and set him up a very nice enclosure and something that is also visually stimulating.
But with the dirt and everything I feel that it just might be too dirty for my room what with the carpeting and all.
I am rather dissapointed because I deffinetly fell in love with this guy when we got them in at work.

I dont know for sure yet.

Still undecided.

Im just thinking with the dirt that would be the substrate plus the high level of humidity required it would make mud and when i got him out it would end up being a mess.

Ill keep you posted on what I decide.

Thanks for all the help so far.

I personally use sand to keep the tank cleaner. Not play sand though its way too thin.
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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...

Its hard to tell what watt bulb to use for a 75 gallon tank how tall is it? However you shouldnt need anything over 100 thats for sure. Monitors thermoregulate. As long as you keep the entire enclosure at the coldest/lowest(surface) points around 82-85 degrees wattage doesnt matter much. If your adding dirt for them to burrow down into this will also cut off some of the space between the surface and the light and will also allow them to dig down for colder temps. Rather then choosing the bulb by wattage. Choose the temperature by height. If you haven't already looked into a retes stack you should. Proexotics has information on their website about them.

The stacks are the best way to get desired temperature. Or you could just buy a couple logs and place them diagnolly heading up towards the top of the cage and raise/lower the logs until the highest basking point is at around 125-130. Then stack a little cliff of flat rocks underneath them to hold them up and also alow colder(lower) basking points underneath them. I'd also recommend throwing a couple inches of leaves (gather from backyard but avoid sticks) on top of the dirt because my water monitor loves it. And dont forget to cover up as much of the screen top as you can to keep the humidity in.
-----
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...

Im getting the water monitor!
Im setting up a custom wooden cage in my basement.
Im thinking a 8 long 4 wide cage will do for a while.
How tall should i make it?
Ventillation?
Lighting?
Soil substrate....how deep?
Humidity?
What do i use to seal the wood?

Thanks
--Cody