Reptile & Amphibian Forums

To Robyn, FR, SHVar and all the others who post good advice on this website, I thank you. I have been lurking on the Monitor Forum for a long time, reading posts and figuring out who knows what they are really talking about and those that are just talking.

I built a new cage (8x4x6) based on a lot of info from this site and thought it was perfect...but perfection is in the eye of the monitor. At first, my Sav acted like all was good, eating was normal, built a very sweet tunnel in the dirt...and then she stopped eating and started cruising around the cage like a maniac looking for a way out. The alerts started going off in my head...something in this perfect environment isn't right and in thinking about the bazillion posts and replies I have read on here, I knew it had to be temps. Long story short, I built an additional light box and mounted it in the cage...closer to the substrate. I also built her a new hide box and platform under the light and wouldn't you know it...she has started eating again and has stopped pacing the cage looking for a way out! I knew about the need for the high basking temps (I have read about it on here and in Ravi and Bennett's book) and I still managed to blow it. The upside is having read so much on this site, I was able to recognize the problem before it got out of control and know how to correct it.

Sorry for the long first post, but I just wanted to say thank you...from me and my monitor.

>>At first, my Sav acted like all was good, eating was normal,
>>built a very sweet tunnel in the dirt...and then she stopped
>>eating and started cruising around the cage like a maniac
>>looking for a way out.

I am glad you managed to figure out the problem. For the future, though something you might want to keep in mind is that when a female suddenly stops eating and begins to very actively explore the entire cage and trying to escape, it is often a sign she is gravid. Next time something like this happens, you might start thinking about proper nesting as well as heat, humidity, substrate, etc.

Luke

Thanks for the advice Luke, but I'm using she without really knowing for sure on sex. I did see a "smooth tube" once after defacating and that combine with a narrow head and the base of her tale makes me lean towards female. "She" is about a year old which I suppose would be old enough to be gravid. I will keep on eye on her if she starts displaying those behaviors again.

"She" is about a year old which I suppose would be old enough to be gravid. I will keep on eye on her if she starts displaying those behaviors again.

I once had an 18" female lay nine eggs in our store. Buyer bought two Benin babies from me, raised them up and at 6 months female "not acting normal". She looked full of marbles. Put her in a bucket of dirt and the next morning we had 9 eggs.

None hatched, likely due to our inexperience with Varanid eggs.

Likely your pet is "big enough".
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AMAZON REPTILE CENTER

Oh, another point that I forgot to make is that she does have 2 feet of soil to burrow in. I didn't see any fresh holes, so I'm assuming there were no eggs...

Sounds like you are making solid progress. There are lots of details and subtleties, and some are bound to get overlooked. But you read and reacted, and that is what you want to be doing.

Good job, best of luck!
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robyn@proexotics.com

Pro Exotics Reptiles