Reptile & Amphibian Forums

i'm thinking of getting a water monitor and i'm wondering if a a filter in the swimming area/ water bowl will help the cleanliness of the water in any way?

Naw a 8 foot lizard that eats jumbo rats needs changed water not filtered.

first of all they are 6 feet and I meant for yearlings.

Asian water monitors can get 8 feet and morbidly obese on top of that.

Giant filtered water bowl.

that is one FAT lizard!

A 6ft. monitor or any size monitor should have fresh water or you are asking for trouble, it is part of good husbandry to supply this for them. I dont think they make a filter that sterilizes the water or kills parasite eggs, bacteria,ect. YUCK! with that said you will be reintroducing bad things to your monitor everytime it drinks from that cess pool of filth.
Robert

>>i'm thinking of getting a water monitor and i'm wondering if a
>>a filter in the swimming area/ water bowl will help the
>>cleanliness of the water in any way?

I tried filtering the water for my argus monitors. I never came up with anything that was satisfactory. Normal aquarium filters will quickly clog and burn out. Eventually, I tried setting up a pump and filter for outdoor ponds, the type you might use for koi. This worked better for a while, but ended up a huge octopus-mess of pipes and a water reservoir that occasionally burst and flooded the monitor room. Still, if you want to go with a filtered pool for your water monitors, starting with a pond filter and pump is probably the way to go, but you will need to work out the kinks in the design. The appeal is certainly obvious - a filtered pool would be much less work. Let us all know if you find a way to get it to work.

Luke

i haven't got him yet i'm just trying to get as much information as possible. but thanks anyways!

Hello Zippy,
In my experience, monitors toss way too much substrate into the bowl to maintain a filter. Best to you- Mike S