Reptile & Amphibian Forums

New Baby Sumatran Water Monitor wont eat mice pinkies. He downs crickets all day but he wont eat the Pinkies! Should I be worried or does anyone have suggestions? Thanks.

If he eats crickets, leave him on crickets. Do some research on these forums you'll find a bunch of info.

Cheers,
Mike.

Thanks for the input!

I never had any water monitors but many of the dwarfs and prasinus complex and if you cook an egg [scrambled in microwave] and mix it in with some cut up pinkies Im sure that monitor would eventually take them, eggs are a sure shot stepping stone for scenting other prey/food items to get any monitor to eat that particular food. I have also used fresh trout to scent rodents which worked well on tristis monitors. Just be patient and Im sure you will succeed!
Bob

Thanks for the info. I'll try that. I'm sure he will come around sooner or later.

First thing I've learned from here is get his temps right. Could you tell us what his cage tempertures are? Hot side to cool side.

A properly setup monitor does not refuse rodents, especially pinkies. You don't have to slather a rodent in peanut butter, or fish juice, to make it eat.

Your problem lies in your husbandry and stress levels, not prey items.

So what are your temps?
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robyn@proexotics.com

ShipYourReptiles.com
Pro Exotics Reptiles

Thanks for the responses everyone...

I've only had him for two weeks now...I have him in a 40 gallon tank with plenty of room and cypress mulch as the substrate. On one end I have a nice size water bowl where he could soak and on the other end a box for a hide spot. On top on one end of the tank I have a hood with a UVB and 2 bulbs one 75w and the other is 100w...So he has a nice basking spot. At night I turn off all the lights and he has a ceramic heat emitter 100w by zoomed which keeps the tank warm. Every morning I pour some water over the mulch to keep it humid. He doesnt seem too stressed. He is pretty tame and he is downing 20 crickets or more a day.

Please forgive my ignorance but I did not buy a thermometer Yet..I will get that asap and confirm the temps..but The room where I have him stays about 73-75 degrees....That cage on the cool side has to be atleast 83 or so..And on the hot end atleast 95 plus...probably more....But I will confirm.

Do baby always start eating pinkies right away or does it take some time for them to get a little bigger....Thanks

There are several major problems that need to be addressed. The 40 gallon tank is too small. Heat gradients are nearly impossible to control. It will be a matter of months before he outgrows it. You should take care of this right away.

You're pumping some serious wattage into such a small enclosure. You risk frying him. I'm assuming the top is open which compounds the problem. Misting the cypress mulch is not going to help in this case. A 40 gallon enclosure shouldn't require anything larger than a 45 watt flood light. The 100 watt ceramic heater is also overkill. Your night time temps must be very high, too high. An IR temp gun is critical. Knowing ambient temp is not enough and will not help you set up proper heat gradients.

A young monitor should not be "tame." A "tame" hatchling water monitor does not survive in the wild. This along with its unwillingness to eat rodents is a sure sign of stress.

These are all very common husbandry errors and easily fixed if you have the passion and resources. You've chosen one of the most challenging species as your first monitor. Good luck and be prepared for a real handful. Hopefully, you have a spare bedroom ready to go.

Thanks for the advise...The first thing I'm getting tomorrow is a thermometer..no more guessing on temps..I'm definately upgrading him to a new enclosure soon... But this terranium looks pretty spacious for now...It doesnt seem like hes getting fried with the lamps... I see him basking and pretty active in the cage. I say hes tame because he's not trying to bite me, he just real active wanting to climb on my hands...I bought the 100w heat emmiter because it said on the box for 30-40 gallon terraniums...What should I use to keep the cage warm at night instead? Fortunatley I live in S FL on a 2 acre property so I will be able to make a nice outdoor enclosure for him in the future when he's bigger. Thanks again for the help!

You defineatly need to make some adjustments....first things first you need a temp gun --not-- a thermometer. You can use the temp gun from now on for all your reptiles.... You need to messure surface temperatures thats why a temp gun is a necessity.

You can get them from LLL reptiles or Pro-exotic reptiles.

You need wood stacks and you don't need the heaters at night. You can learn how to build the woodstacks at Pro-Exotics. Also use topsoil you can buy it at home depot. It helps hold the humidity...lastly a piece of plexiglass laid over the part of the top screen will keep his humidity levels right. I use a 40 gallon for baby monitors so I know it can work.

Thanks for the advise....I'm definately ordering the temp gun and building some wood stacks...And I'll try the plexi glass trick too....I should have everthing in order in the next couple days...You mentioned not to use the heat emmiter at night..What should I use to control night temps then? The temp in my house at night is 70 degrees!

Pro Exotics has great information on there site...Robyn thanks for such an informative site!

Elidogs..you wouldn't happen to be a game dog fancier too? =)

You can use a ceramic heater at night if you wish. Or leave the lights on all the time like some here do. I like temp ranges of 70F to 80F on the cool side and 130F-150F on the hot side. I use a 75 watt bulb to achieve this for a 40 gallon. Keep in mind that higher temperature is just surface temperature its not air temperature. Thats what your temp gun is for. I put the wood stacks under the light and they just climb up down and inbetween them to get the temp they are comfortable at. My house stays about 80F this time of year so I just shut off the lights at night. You can just use a small ceramic heater or something if you are worried about too cold.

P.S. In regards to the dawgs I used to be obsessed with them but now it is impossible for me to keep them. Due too severe laws and negative public opinion.

Thanks for all of your advise...I really appreciate it...I'll post some pics soon of this little guy...

The dogs is my main obsession and something I dont think I could give up LOL..And your right unfortunately things are real bad right now and its a shame because this is such a great breed..Take bro and thanks again!

Why would someone admit to be involed in something illegal in a public forum?

Where did I admit to something illegal??????? I mentioned to Elidogs about loving these dogs, owning them, and not giving them up. I dont participate or condone any illegal activities! The APBT is my favorite breed of dog and I do alot to help fight against breed specific laws! Thats It!

Robyn, I didnt really question temps as most people who are even considering a monitor usually know about temps, he did say it was eating many crickets so his temps should be pretty good but I do know to consume larger prey is when the temps really become more important. Seems like many of the keepers on these forums end up with thermal burns because they belive monitors require 130F temps. IMO I have kept and bred both species of Aussie rock monitors in many differenmt cage scenerios and have had available 130F temps but not with huge halogen bulbs to close to where they burn the monitor. I have found that the species I keep and have bred, some for nearly a decade now are good at 105-117F as a high range and the ones that have been given anything hotter seem to avoid it. Warmer ambient temps are the problem in most cases and by keeping any monitor at the same temp the eggs incubate at is a given and proven to me to work fine. Their is nothing wrong with scenting things for a monitor with other things like eggs,fish,ect. Snake keepers have been doing it for many years to entice certain species of snakes to take F/T rodents over lizards which is part of their natural diet in the wild. I guess if he doesnt offer crickets at all and puts in a rodent the monitor will eventually take the rodent when it gets hungry enough. The biggest mistake people make is offering a 130F plus basking spot with ambient temps to low, monitors like both heat and security [hides] so higher ambient temps are sometimes overlooked or are kept to low thus leading to a cold monitor that sits under the halogen bulb to warm up and burning itself from the hot narrow beam those lamps put out. Its kind of like on a cold Ohio night when we make fires outdoors and get to close, it almost feels like your leg is ready to burn and the rest of your body is still cold. Almost that season again here:{
Robert
WWW.Herphatch.com

hey hector you got any pics. to show every one? i love looking at setups and new babys??
later boadave

I'm going to take some pics now and try to post them...I suck with posting pics online lol...well i took the temps and I was right on the money.....The Basking Spot was at 120 degrees...and the cooler side was at 84 degrees...He's still eating crickets everyday but still wont eat Mice Pinkies...Should I scent the pinkies with something or just wait?...However I bought super Meal worms and he loved them...he downs them like candy...any negatives to feeding meal worms and if so how often should I feed them combined with the crickets? ..Thanks

A younger monitors diet can be far different then the adults, Many monitors are strictly insectivores until they get larger and high caloric demands must be met with larger prey which can and usually does include mammals. I would just keep pounding him with what he prefers at this point in his life which seems to be crickets and zoophobias, eventually he will take pinks, there really is no big hurry here and if it works dont fix it.
Bob