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I got a new asian water monitor baby and I have a few concerns. The hotspot in the cage above his Retes stack is 128-132 and ambient temp stays between 85-86. My problem is at night I have a ceramic heat emitter to keep the ambient temps up around 85-90 and keeps the floor of the cage about 92 or so. The monitor sleeps under the retes stack in which I have sand and dirt mixture and under that stack it drops to about 70 and is very damp and the heat just doesn't get there. In turn the monitor wakes up up with foamy mouth and lethargic because the temp drops too much at night. I wanted to just block off the botton entrances to the retes stack and solve the problem but I want him to have the elavations to regulate his temp. Adding a more watt heat emitter will still not penetrate under the retes stack and the cold dirt/sand. I know that the new monitors must have a good hide spot to feel secure so I'd like to still have plenty of hide levels on the stack.

Does anyone have some good advice on what to change or an easy fix. The last thing I want is a lizard with a resp infection.

Also it has been throwing up it's meals, I was thinking this was because of the cold drop at night because it would happen in the morning afterr the day heat bulbs kicked on and it came out. It has another pinky in him right now and it is keeping it down. I am hoping it doesn't have some kind of parasite or internal problem. It is a farm bred monitor from overseas.

Thanks in advance for any help!

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Hi,

As the retes of the retes boards, the stack is doing exactly what its suppose to do. 70F is a very very healthy sleeping temp for all species of varanids.

The point is, it has a choice and it picked that temp.

Healthy monitors are EXPERTS at picking temps. So if your monitor is healthy, then no worries.

But because you monitor is throwing up its food, it appears to not be healthy. I would not worry about your temp range and find out whats wrong with your monitor.

Its very common for imports to be overrun with parasites. The stress of capture, holding, packed with hundreds of other monitors, shipped here, shipped there, shipped all over. And many times treated at each stop along the way. This kills them DEAD.

hopefully your monitor has functioning kidneys and liver, the two organs that fail first.

The point is, make sure your monitor is healthy, if not, all the fooling with temps are useless.

Also, Leave the regular lites on 24/7. As long as you provide dark hiding places, your monitor can go and sleep anytime it wants or use heat, anytime it wants. Deep substrate, retes stacks or boards, etc provide dark sleeping areas anytime.

Also, in nature, monitors do not stay awake in the day and sleep at night. that is a human thing, not a monitor thing.

Wild varanids are very much active early mourning, and early evening. In between that, they are down is holes and crevices and in the dark, FOR MOST OF THE DAY. Also, one varanid reseacher, stated the animals he watched only came out, one or two days a week. of course, the monitors may not have wanted to come out with this fella following them around, hahahahahahahahaha

So please, take your monitor to the vet and have it checked for parasites, and have some blood work done.

Oh a side note, a healthy monitor has no problems with parasites. But imported animals are not healthy. Good luck

Well the problem is he wakes up with foamy mouth. I have many monitors and none of them get this but yet they dont sleep under the retes stack, they sleep on the warmer side and come out and bask when the light cycle rotates in. I checked today and he had a bowel movement and the pinky is still in his stomach. Still has the foam mouth stuff going on though. The only thing i can relate to the foamy mouth was when night temps get too low. After he warms up the foamy stuff goes away but it's really bad in the morning. I also never tried the 24 hour light cycle, mabey I will try that, but still under that retes stack its very cold in the damp dirt.

I think the point is that if this animal was healthy (it does not sound healthy) it would move to a hotter spot if needed.

It sounds like something is wrong with this animal. It likely has nothing to do with what your doing (though nobody can be sure without being there), but rather it has something to do with what has happened to it on the trip from point A (the wild) to point B (your house). It was captured, shipped with other animals of various degrees of health (some dead), and kept in unknown conditions until it was sold to you and ended up in your house.

I would call whoever sold it to you and see if they will refund your $ or send you another animal if this one doesn't make it.

If you want to fork out more $, then you might consider a vet.

Other than that, I don't know if there is much than can be done besides waiting to see what happens.

I think that what everyone has been saying about the parasites is very likely true. Also, did you perhaps use a paint or silicone that wasn't low VOC's on the stack or in the enclosure and put it in with the monitor without letting it cure first? I mean I used screws on my rete stacks personally, but some people might opt against that.

"Also, in nature, monitors do not stay awake in the day and sleep at night. that is a human thing, not a monitor thing."
The first monitor I ever got was a nile many years ago. When I first got it I kept it in a tank (like most beginners who new little....less info back then.) I kept the tank semi aquatic. One day shortly after getting it I got this bright idea to get some fresh water mussels from the store to feed it. The lizard kept me up all night that night clanging mussel shells on the bottom of the tank trying to eat them. I never repeated that scenario ever.
The funny thing is I use that tank for day geckos now and it is somewhat small for them but I get good production out of pairs in that tank (29 long btw). To this day I cannot imagine ever having kept a monitor in that tank (although he wasn't in it long) much less that one he grew to 6 foot and lived for 16 years.

That's pretty great that you ended up keeping it for that long. So many people get their niles as their first monitors and just toss them. Mine is only two years old now, never bitten me once! I just moved mine in to a bigger enclosure as well. What size did you end up with as his final enclosure at six feet?

Well the asian water monitor looks better, it has kept a fuzzy mouse down for 3 days now but the last 3 days it has passed up another. Should they be eating fuzzies more than every few days or is that normal? The legs of the lizard are very skinny but his body is decent. It sleeps in its hole constantly though, I have yet to see it out except for today when I took it out to give it a soak. It did manage to grab ahold of my finger and wouldn't let go until he got a nice blood drip going on though, which is fine. I am hoping it was just wore out from the shipping and stuff. No more throw up or anything like that, his poop looks like black water though, with some white, nothing very solid at all. I finnaly got my mineral-all in today so I am going to start using that instead of the other powder I had. I guess the only real question I have is how many days between fuzzy mice feedings would be not to worry about. Like I said right now its going on 3 days nothing ate, stomach still looks decently full from the other fuzzy though

Well I would try and throw more variety his way. Depending upon where you got him, he was likely captive hatched, though there are some captive bred water monitors that are wonderful to be around. That being said, he could have an intestinal parasite. It could also be that your hot spot is not warm enough. I keep mine at about 120-135 for my Nile and Savannah, they still bask in that frequently. I feed my monitors 5-6 days a week, with new prey every other day. You might want to try roaches, superworms, some scrambled or hard boiled eggs, snails from the asian food market, etc. I try not to order in a reptiles personally because the experience can be very traumatic for the reptile, and with a monitor that can get over six feet and live for over fifteen years, I try not to take the chances on getting anything that was abused before coming into my care. Good luck.

Hot Spot is 125-135 and I have yet to see him basking on it, he stays in the retes stack almost all the time.

Well if you're using the rete stack accordingly it should be placed directly under your heat source to give a temperature gradient from the top to the bottom. If he's on the rete stack then he's still soaking up heat. UNLESS that's the only hide you have in the cage. He may feel insecure, especially if it's glass. I make wooden enclosures and still place several hide spots AND some form of a rete stack. Feeling like they can hide is KEY to a healthy and friendly monitor. Usually people have "puppy tame" monitors that actually have just given up on living because they spent so much time feeling terrified. You have to remember that to them, we're just predators. If you want a monitor that remains healthy and inquisitive, provide plenty of hide spots.

I just happened to catch your original post, What kind of enclosure are you using? What kind of humidity level do you have going on in the tank? Your temps seem fine but if you are keeping him in a smaller glass tank (or any glass tank.) with a screen or wire top you may be losing humidity and slow cooking him.
There is some kind of issue going on, puking is not good Unless you have feed them to the point of nothing more being able to fit in them (still not good but for different reason.). Monitors should be willing to eat anything you throw at them any and every day of the week. I have had a very busy week and weekend and skipped a few feedings here at home. I fully expect to be chased and attacked when I go to throw food at at some monitors after this post. that is how waters should act. Anything less is not right. You may want to see if you have a GOOD reptile vet in your area and bring him in for a check up as well. Ask around at local reptile shops or a local herp society and see if someone recommends one. But that aside I would check your set up first.

I never bought the nile with the idea of it being small and then it got too big for me type mentality so the size was not an issue.
I was kid who wanted a T-rex for a pet, but they were extinct, so than I wanted a Komodo but you couldn't get them, mind you this was when I was very young. I was always aware that you could get niles for pets and was aware that they got at least 6ft but I had no interest in them as a child because they only got 6ft.. As I got older I realized that a 6ft lizard really is a decent sized lizard. I studied up on them as best I could (with very limited info and that savanah book by Michael Balsai as a guide....not so good but what was available at the time.) and went from there. I had not yet learned about waters that came a bit later. Anyway I got him with the intent of keeping him. At first I kept him in a 29 long that I bought at about the same time as I bought the nile. At this point in time keeping monitors in tanks until they outgrew them was how things were done. Money was no object for me at the time as far as what I could spend on housing but I quickly figured out that he would outgrow any glass tank I could buy. At that point I built his first custom cage (with very few carpentry skills. and no tools) which was 4'x5'x4' high. I cut a hole in the center with a skill saw (not easy but I did it...I hadn't learned about jigsaws yet.) to fit a kiddie pool in the middle of it. Not all that great now but not that bad at the time given my limited knowledge and lack of carpentry skill at the time and still much better than a tank. Ultimately he had an indoor cage that was 12x 6x6 and an outdoor cage that was 10x10x10 (originally an iguana cage.).I am currently working on some outdoor cages bigger than that for some of my waters.

Got crickets and roaches yesterday and wasn't able to get the monitor to eat them. I even tried putting one in his mouth and he bit down and just spit it back out. Also tried some chicken and some turkey and no go. I noticed he was breathing out of his mouth and his nose was plugged up with dirt so I took warm water and cleaned them out with qtips. They look clear but It still breaths out of its mouth. This is turning into a huge mess. Never had a monitor that wouldn't eat like a beast so I am lost atm. There are no vets that deal with reptiles anywhere close to where I live and it's going on 5 days since it ate the fuzzy mouse.

It just sounds traumatized mate. Try and leave it for a few days. Don't leave anything uneaten in there. Let him build up an appetite and calm down, that's probably your best bet from what I see. Because if you keep trying to force it to eat it's just going to get more and more stressed til it breaks and gives up. I would give it some space. Keep the tank covered, keep it warm, and humid. If he seems dehydrated, I would throw in a humidity hide, or a humidity bomb sort of deal if you have any screen enclosures.

Well like I said the first day I left a fuzzy in there an he ate it, the rest of the times I just left more food on the plate and didnt bother him in his hide. Just recently I took him out of his hide to see whats going on. I am just worried because he is VERY skinny, has no meat on his legs and his stomach is really flat. I will see if I can get a pic up so you can see what I am talking about. I have 125-130 hotspot, 2 retes hides, huge soak bowl, 75 soil/ 25 sand mixture for substrate that I spray down daily. As far as husbandry I think everything is good to go. The whole not eating thing is really whats bothering me. When I got him out he didn't seemed stressed or anything, I didnt have to hold him tight, he just sat on my hand and looked around, was not the slightest bit agressive. That worried me as well because usualy babies are pretty wild from my exp. and he is a farm bred monitor. I am not super reptile man or anything but I have had Niles, Savs and Black throats and never seen a baby not have a hunger for food, usualy i was worried about over feeding.

You are possibly right, mabey I just need to let him chill for longer, surley he won't die of starvation, but who knows.

Yeah, I hope for the best. Definitely is something to be worried about if he isn't being feisty. Let me know how it goes and do post some pictures, of him and the enclosure.

Woke up today and he was outside his retes stack dead. I am really pissed as I have never had a reptile die in my care. Now I have this nice monitor setup with no monitor. SIGH

I'm sorry mate, I know that's tough. Sometimes they just come in with parasites that under the stress of importation will usually cause them to pass. From the sounds of things, it wasn't your fault. You kept him warm and humid which is the main thing with a sick monitor. Once again, sorry for your loss. I would get back to whatever company sent him to you.