Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Just wanted to share a couple of photos.
Mike

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Mike's Monitors!

Nice, Mike. Really gorgeous!

How you been, man. And how is ol' Nunzio doin'?

Joe
Things are real good on my end, how bout you?
Thanks Similis are my favorites.
Nunzio is good and Gusto?
Mike

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Mike's Monitors!

Good to hear you all are doing well. Gusto is still pluggin' along. Sent you an email via kingsnake few weeks ago. Anyway lovin' the similis, man. take good care.

Mike,
I just picked up a pair before Christmas, can you expand on your husbandry a little. Also I know you keep/kept timors any thoughts on similarities and differences.

Mik
Congrats on your new pair!
I have never kept Timorensis, but I have kept and bred Auffenbergi.

Auffenbergi are the shyest(sp) species I have ever kept!!
They would hear the slightest noise and they would be GONE!
Heck I didn't even know when they copulated, puffed up with eggs, nested or laid their eggs.

I had 2.3 I got sick of "empty cage syndrom" and sold them.
Months later after preparing for a new species I turned over the substrate only to find at least a couple of clutches.
I did not incubate them because my lights and heat source was off for a long period.
Sorry to ramble.

Could you be more specific in your husbandry question.
I could go on and on, lets narrow it down please.
Mike

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Mike's Monitors!

My bad Auffenbergi but that was some time ago, I was a big fan of your site. Nothing wrong with rambling you might answer questions I wouldn't think to ask. I have not kept monitors for twenty years. Specifically diet to include the percentage of mice compared to insects. Substrate I am using cypress mulch and with crickets I know they are ingesting some. Water I put in a cat litter tub but they really don't seem to use it, they do however drink when I spray them. Humidity I am in Denver so its very hard to keep things from being too dry. Also I expect yours is wild caught do you worm? Temps ambient and basking. And I guess any personal breeding insight you might have. I don't know if you just have the one male looks like? You know the usual everything stuff.
I just feel you cant have too much info. Also noticed you are using a cattle trough, do you have much in the way of vertical space? I will try to get some pictures this weekend they are pretty sweet.
Thanks,
Fred.

Fred
Thanks, my webpage was pretty cool!

Here is a little run down.

Heat sources, 2 in the enclosure.
One is a large kane heat mat and one 75 watt halogen flood light.
Ambient temps range from 78 degrees to 100 degrees.
Basking spots, there are 4, 130 degrees, 115 degrees, 99 degrees and one at the bottom of the enclosure 85 degrees. All are utilized.

Substrate, homemade sandy loam. Ditch the mulch.

Diet, 75% insects not just crickets and roach"o's".
I also feed june bugs, moths, worms and large spiders (advantages of living in the woods).
25% is rodents.

Humidity is 50% to 75% and 100% during and after daily spraying.

Watering, mine will drink from the bowl and during daily spraying.

They really like vertical hides so I have 3 layers of sheet bark (locally collected) on the back wall.
This provides great hides so basking while hidden is possible.

I used to worm every wild caught I first had.
I have not wormed in years, I would if I felt the need to though.

I no longer use the 4' trough for Similis.

I hope this will help a bit, these are my husbandry methods.
There are some reall knowledgable folk keeping Similis now so hopefully they will chime in with their methods to compare with.

As for breeding I have not bred them so I can't help you there.
Good luck and if ever you need to find them a good home I'd love to have them.
Mike
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Mike's Monitors!