Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Hello all, I have an argus monitor that is exhibiting odd behavior. i moved him into a larger cage that is 4 feet long 2 feet wide and 4 feet high with about a foot of dirt to burrow with. The problem is that now he burrows into a hole and doesn't come out. I pull him out of the borrow a couple times a week so that he can digest food in his stomach. It's almost like he is hibernating, do reptiles do that? His basking spot is around 110 degrees F and the temps at night don't go below 60 degrees F.
Should I be worried about this behavior?

Levi

Got any photos so we can see what you're seeing?

I would dig deep down and figure out the soil temp by hitting it with a temp gun. If the soil temp deeep down is below 70, i would focus heat on there somehow. either a heatmat or focus lights above the coldest areas of the soil. I would'nt let your ambient temps drop belowe 75 too often. This could be a case of your lizard being 'trapped' there because he goes down to a point where he gets too cold and cant get out.

What are your cage conditions, humidity, ambient air temps and surface temps?

This is common. PEople(even myself) plop down a ft of bedding and worrying about the temps above the soil while totally forgetting about the temp deep down where most monitors like to burrow.

Your right, it never really occurred to me to check the soil temp. I will collect more info on his habitat and post it.

Im not sure soil temp is so much the issue. When you say the monitor digs a burrow and stays in it...well, what the heck does that mean?

Does that mean it stays in it for 12 hours? A day? 1 week? You see if a monitor can't digest it's food it will 1, not eat (odd with argus I would assume) or 2 regurgitate it.

So please elaborate on the monitors behavior...and how exactly it differs from previous behaviors. At first glance your basking spot is too low. From my experiance as long as that is hot hot it doesnt much matter what the rest of the cage temps are.

Cheers,
Mike.

THe longest I have waited before I pulled him out is 5 days. After I pull him out he heats up then exhibits normal bevahoir, (ie digging and exploring). Then he goes to his burrow at night and doesn't come out until I pull him out. He only started doing this when I moved him into his larger cage.

Personally, I would leave it be. Pulling him out is only making him want to stay down longer Im sure. If your basking area is hot enough, he is smart enough to come out when its time to, he wont simply die in a hole.

Also do you have a way of watching him 5 days straight? If you have motion sensor cameras perhaps you do, but is it possible he comes out when you are not around? I have some young Flavis and even a few Ackies that love to time that; and they do it VERY well.

I would be worried if I didn't see one of my lizards after like three weekks, maybe four, not a week. Remember these are very smart , they dont need you to put them under their basking site and if for some reason they do; somthing is very very wrong.

Cheers,
Mike.

"he wont simply die in a hole."
Sidbarvin(Roger) just lost a large salvator from " simply dying in a hole" that was too cold. I do think that they can get trapped if temps are too cold. Some species can tolerate cooler temps better.

Though I would really like to hear back on temps, the other cases could be the reason why your animal is acting the way it is. ...new cage, stress factors. I would test out the factors and see what works for your monitor to be back to normal.

Are you sure its not just shy? I have had a few shy monitors that I only see a few times a week, and usually thats right when I come in the room then it hides again. I know its a simple answer but could be the case. other than that unless he just seems lethargic and sick I would guess that it is a husbandry problem. When you pull him out does he act week?

he acts normal after he heats up under his lamp.

Why would a monitor hide in a hole? Even if it's only 70 degrees in the hole, that is not low enough to disable a monitor to the point that he/she cannot reach heat. I would say it's more likely that the monitor is driven into its burrow because the weather conditions are not favorable for hunting and food consumption.

If you think about how the monitors operate in nature, they come out when conditions are favorable. They do not come out and lounge around all day in order to get their temps up and digest food. They need the basking temps to be quite hot in order to warrant risking their lives for any amount of time. If the basking temps were in the 140f range, the monitor may exhibit more natural behavior of leaving its burrow to eat and bask (though not for long). My theory is basically that you are creating a shady day (comparably) for the monitor, so he is waiting for the weather to change (his basking spot becoming hotter) before he risks his life to leave the safety of his burrow.

Also, you should never remove an animal from its hiding spot unless it's an emergency. That destroys the animal's sense of security and then the animal will hide even more. I work mostly with tortoises and see it all the time with new tortoise owners. When the tortoise stays hidden for a couple of days they start to panic and start dragging the tortoise out of his hiding spot so he can eat (as if a couple days without food would hurt a tortoise). Then, in turn, the tortoise spends more time hidden. In general if you leave the animal alone and focus on giving it good resources (high basking temps, good food sources, good dirt) it will start to lose its shyness. I have definitely been guilty of the 'dragging the reptile out of its hide' thing, so I know the temptation is so hard to resist!

Good luck and I hope that with a couple minor changes to the environment your monitor will start to show its face again! Got any pics of the new habitat?

Thanks your suggestions, I think all of them were pretty relevant in my case. I raised his basking temp up to 140 and gave him burrow temps ranging from 75 -85 F. Today when I went to feed him, he came out of his burrow like a rocket to find his food. With the low temps, I he was burrowing and getting stuck. Im happy to see him coming out on his own. I'll post pics when I get a chance

Thanks, Levi

It's always nice when a simple change gives the desired result

Can't wait for pics.

So I have ackies and one of my females does this every spring she goes gravid digs one hole this year is was under a rock and it caved the hole over night. She doesnt dig again a week or tow go by finally i see eggs on top of soil then find 3-4 burried but all bad. SO she keeps them inside her past the point every spring? I am puzzeled since I keep em hot and feed em alot.

This year I think the male was too diminant so I removed him leaving two females in the enclosure.

Trying to see where I am going wrong. I have hatched out three clutches in the past but recently she keeps holding them? I have moist soil not wet of course warm tems hot basking spots.?