Reptile & Amphibian Forums

My green tree monitors are acting strange tonight. The female went into the nest box and the male went in a little later on. She chased him out and I noticed he had a small nip on his throat. This is unusual because they always get along and they sleep in the box together every night. She came out of the box and every time he went up by it she chased him off.

This past week she has also been acting different by being dominate over him(usually it's the other way around). She gets on top of him and acts like she is a male trying to mate. I know that this is a dominance thing like in dogs. I have seen this in my other reptiles too as a display of dominance.

She does look a little big in the lower belly but this could be food. Is it possible that she could be gravid and acting this way because she is going to lay eggs? Or is this all a dominance thing? Like I said I have never seen her chase him like she did tonight out of the nest box and then try to keep him away from it.

I also don't even know if they are sexually mature yet. The female is probably a little over a year old and the male is almost a year. She is full grown I think but the male isn't as he is still smaller than her.

Thanks,
Kathy

Could be a good time to seperate them now. From your previous vids, your animals don't appear to be all that big, though the camera could be throwing me off. What are their measurements?

I don't keep V.prasinus but there are records of other monitors(and lizards) being sexually mature(breed,lay eggs)at under a year, even under 10 months...just something to keep in mind maybe.

I hope you figure this out, your monitors are awesome and hope you have a positive pair. In your vids, they don't even pesture each other over food, almost like standing in line, waiting. Good bonding between the two.

Hey check you PM

Hey thanks I'm going to check it out there and see what people say about it.

Yes they are usually very nice to one another and get along very well. This is why I'm like what the heck is going on?!

The female total length is 20 1/2 inches. The male total length is 18 inches. (I measured last month) I read that this species typically gets 18-24 inches fully grown with females being on the smaller side and males being on the bigger side. So the female could be adult size now but the male still has growing to do.

Kathy,As you say in your post, they have always been together as mine were witout any problem, only until the female laid did we ever see any problems like you have described, with that said Im sure yours are getting ready to or their could be an issue we have never had like you are [but I doubt it].
Bob

Yes they are usually very nice to one another and get along very well. This is why I'm like what the heck is going on?!

The female total length is 20 1/2 inches. The male total length is 18 inches. (I measured last month) I read that this species typically gets 18-24 inches fully grown with females being on the smaller side and males being on the bigger side. So the female could be adult size now but the male still has growing to do.

Yes, eggs are either in her or the nest box already? I had a pair of Kordensis that bred and after the female laid her eggs I noticed she was [looking like] trying to kill her mate in defense of her eggs. I know for sure all of the aussie dwarfs I work with seem to exhibit a mild nest gaurding mode for a couple of days after laying but the kordensis was alot more dramatic to the male, I had to pull the male for 2 weeks and by then her motherly instinct had settled down enough to reintroduce him into her cage. I would suggest pulling the male until she lays, chances are she has eggs and they have already copulated. In the wild she would have found her own safe place to nest without the male, in captivity we cannot always offer them that choice. Let us know what happens. Good luck with her and some good eggs!
Bob

Thanks Bob I will seperate them then. I was noticing today she is acting the same and chasing him off constantly. I was getting worried so I pulled an extra cage out ready to seperate them but I wasn't sure until I read your reply, so thanks again

I didn't think they would breed this young! Now I'm excited and nervous too. I'll let you know what happens with the female, if she lays eggs or not.

You have had them both less than a year.I woul guess that it was dominance behavior,I think that they are to young to breed.I think that they are coming into puberty,and they are fighting over who is the more dominant one.

If you get babies you can send a few this way!

From my experiance it isnt about size but more of an age thing for breeding and eggs, I have some kimberly rocks that are huge in comparison to the older smaller girls and the older girls are the only ones laying eggs now. Dont be dissappointed if the first eggs are not any good, this is common with young females for their first time around but if your lucky you may get some good fertile eggs. I have also heard the female black tree monitors get very aggressive post egg laying and even toward their keepers sometimes, I would just give her a good nest box with a heat gradiiant in the sandy soil mix and every time I dig up eggs I test the soil temps with my temp gun and it seems the female dwarfs always lay in dirt that is 85-86F. I know my friend that use to get good V. Riesingeri eggs had a nest box with moist cypress mulch and a little dirt mixed in and the female always excepted that for egg laying. Good luck, maybe get some nice gifts for the Christmas?
Bob

Thank you very much for the info!

Hey Bob I have a question, would it be ok to put a heat source on the side of the nest box instead of the bottom? I am making nest boxes out of big sterlite tubs that have clear opaque bottoms. I chose this because when I hang them up high I can look underneath and see white spots when she lays eggs on the bottom and know to take them out. The sides I am covering with cork bark sheets so she feels secure in the box. I am going to cut out a small hole near the top on one side for entry. The lid will be flush with the ceiling of the cage. With the bottom being opaque she won't be able to see out of it and still feel like she is hiding. I have a similar set up for my geckos and it works perfect because I don't have to disturb the nest box until I see from the bottom eggs are laid.

The inside I am filling with damp moss almost to the top(she has moss in her other box too right now). The box is 22 in long, 12 in high and 15 in deep. Do you think all this will work? I am trying to think of the easiest way to collect eggs. I really don't want to have to take the box down everyday to check it and disturb the female.

Thanks,
Kathy

Kathy, I heat from the side because it creats a better choice of temps, more of a gradient and if you heat from the bottom you can cook the eggs [as heat rises up from] which alot of people have done in the past, the size of the nest box sounds OK. I dont think its so much the size of the nest box that is so important but having the right temps dialed in and the right moisture level, moist but not wet is key. I would target a range of temps of 84F to 87F for her choices, if the conditions are not met to her liking egg binding can be a problem, they know where to lay those eggs and they wont lay them if you are way off with to much hot/cold or moisture. Egg binding does not seem to be as big of a problem in the tree monitors like it can be in the aussie dwarfs. Usually if her nest site isnt acceptable she may lay the eggs on the floor of the cage or water dish which I have had happen before and the eggs were no good [she held them to long usually]
Good luck with them!
Bob

Thanks again for all the great info and help! I appreciate it very much

Thanks,
Kathy

Kathy, no problem, I wish you all the best, I know how you feel about your monitors and the work you have put in already to get them as tame as they are. You could be a big help with captive breeding which in turn gives people healthy acclimated babies and saves the wild populations by not needing to import them anymore[someday maybe?]. Keep up the good work! Those videos you post are 1000 times better for anyone to see over reading a post, seeing is believing!
Bob

Thanks! I agree with you about breeding this species 100%! It would be nice if one day they all came from captive bred stock and the wild ones were left in the wild.

I am really hoping I do everything right with these monitors to insure success. I think the biggest thing is that they are both really comfortable with me. They are not bothered when I'm watching or when I have to mess around in their cage. I can handle and inspect them when I need to and they don't care.

Oh, guess what? I'm getting a juvenile blue tree monitor next month! I'm so excited! I will do a vid when I get her and post it for you

Yes, being so relaxed in your care means alot as stress will kill them, your time spent working with them is time well spent. I cant wait to see the blue tree videos, they are nice to. You should try working with V. Riesingeri, they are a bit larger and recently named after a good friend of mine about 5-6 years ago? They are so mild in nature, even the W/C adults I have seen I can only imagine what a CB baby would be like, they certainly have the color going on as well. Even after being named they were sold in the USA under yellow GTM by some of the importers who just didnt know.
Bob

It's funny you should mention them as they are on my want list too! My goal is breeding pairs of green, blue and yellow tree monitors. Those three are my favorites.

I've never seen any young yellow trees for sale though, only WC adults. I saw a pair on lllreptile that I wanted really bad but couldn't get at the time(my hubby would've killed me because of the cost). They were I think $3000 for both and it wasn't long after I bought my green trees. I'm only allowed to spend that kind of money (price) on herps once a year. The green trees were almost a year ago and next month will be my blue trees so I can't get yellow trees for another year Who knows though, maybe if I'm a good girl I'll get them early, lol!

http://gallery.pethobbyist.com/data/1883V.reisingeri(38)-med.jpg

Above is a link to the photo gallery, here is a picture of 2 CB babies from my friend who discoverd the species. Just be sure to ask for them by the scientific name or you may end up with the wrong species as their are other species people call yellow tree monitors. Extreme reptiles was selling them for 600ea a couple of yrs ago but did not know the correct species name and sold them as yellow prasinus. You can order them from some importers and cheaper then 3k for 1.1 if you look around. Happy holidays!
Bob

Those pics are really cute! Does your friend ever sell the offspring? I'll keep an eye out for them but if you know of any for sale let me know! Happy holidays to you too