I obtained two young Dumeril's monitors last month. They are considered "healthy," active, and, though quite secretive, appear to be now thriving in my care. They have "reluctantly" taken crayfish, but readily devour crickets and mice. I find their preference quite curious, but not too surprising as they were kept in a reptile store for a few weeks. I have housed them in an 8x4x5 enclosure my Argus pair were previously housed in. I moved my Argus into a bigger, makeshift wooden (unsealed and not lined with FRP) "box." Through some unforeseen circumstances and opportunities, I now have seven Argus. I have to give some away for Christmas gifts, haha! Anyway, I gave the enclosure a good cleaning, changed the dirt, and rearranged the "furnishings" for the Dum's. I'm finally going to add some wood lattice to the sides of this cage this weekend. I've been meaning to do that since I built the cage. The present platform I have now is useful but hideous.
I keep the humidity at 70% or above by frequently spraying down the inside of the enclosure, turning over the first few inches of substrate, and using a water basin and moss box. Ben Aller gave me these, and a number of other, helpful suggestions. Thanks to Ben and Ed Doss.
These Dum's really like it wet and muddy. These pictures were taken within the first few days of owning them, so the enclosure is far different now. I'll try to get pictures up soon of the swamp in one end of the enclosure. Between research, my growing collection, and my three month old daughter, I'm scrambling to even make it to the forum.
