Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Due to everyone's positive replies, I am defintely going forward. I'll be getting a trio of babies from Pete Weis. They're his hi-contrast which is just a form of the yellow. I still ahve a couple questions though. Is uvb lighting necessary? Also, with a foot deep of substrate, I'm assuming cypress mulch would be good, probably a 50/50 mix with sand. Would that make it too easy for crickets to hide? What's the secret? Also, approximately how much do they eat in one day and how often should they be fed? Thanks again.

Dirt, once you put a monitor in dirt you will never go back. Cyprus mulch holds moisture, but dirt does it all, and mixing sand mith cyprus is like mixing oil and water. Sand helps dirt to hold a structure and aids in drainage, thats why you dont want that much in the dirt.
Ackies eat alot of crickets, and lobster roaches, and some eat small mice I guess. They eat when they are hungry which is about every day. My ackie and my beardie go through 1000 crickets in 2 or so weeks, yet a big part of his diet is lobster roaches.

Not to be stupid, but where can I buy dirt? Also, what would be a good amount of lobster roaches to start a colony? And are they able to climb glass?

Hi,

I have started using coconut bark for substrate that seems to work well - I buy it in bulk from a hydroponic gardening place - to buy the small bricks in pet stores would put me in the poor house since I try to use 10-12 inches deep in the cage.

Lobster roaches do climb glass - the blaberus disciodales do not climb, and either do the blaberus cranifer (death's head roach).
I use the discoids and they reproduce nicely and the ackies love them, as do my other monitors.

You can get feeder roaches at http://cvexotics.safewebshop.com/feeder_roaches_.html and several other places on the web - just search under "feeder roaches" or "lobster roaches."

All the best,

-----
Phil Black
www.VaranusWeb.com

Its too wet, it cost you more than dirt, gets moldy, and needs replaced often. Ive switched everything to dirt with excellent results. Besides if my monitors eat whole mouthfuls of dirt it doesnt bother them at all (good for them actually), that stuff can cause big problems if your temps are not right, its harder to digest and swells when wet, as well as absorbs all available liquid, and can carry and preserve harmful bacteria too easily.

Just out of curiousity, what did a last fecal show? I've always been concerned with picking up pinworms and other direct parasites from dirt, just wondering if anyone ever notices increased parasite load from using it.

Katrina

Unless its required as dire need, they wont get dewormed as its dangerous and I have lost a few beautiful animals in the past, its very rough on them. But it may not give some animals a problem, its a risk.

From what little I have read about parasites infesting monitors it seems most of them are pretty specific. There were cases of a certain tick that only uses a single species as a host even when it occurs in an area where other simalar sized monitors existed. I could be way off basis but it does not seem likely that a north american soil would contain parasites that would infest a monitor. The real thing here is when do monitors in the wild get dewormed? Parasites are obivously not good but they pose little problem to healthy monitors.

That give any problems to the host. Why is it that so many animals go down hill after being treated for worms, yet if left alone many do great. I do aggree that reptile mites need destroyed, and ticks removed, but internal parasites are symbiotic and need their host the be healthy. Ive said before many times about most internal parasites being specific to a certain species or type, after all thats why Africa has different species than us well as Asia and Australia. Some of theirs are similar or the same species but a different sub species but North America has different internal parasites and external.

Hi Shvar,

the pin worms you speak of are called Taenia taenia and have been associated with varanids for over 100 years, but more formally connected to them in 1938. They frequent most varanid species, and maybe snakes too - they are of a parasitic relationship with varanids, and nasty things to look at under the microscope...

Some veterinarians at the 2001 Chicago Herpetological Symposium not only suggested but gave very good evidence that most medications given to reptiles are over-doses and that current amounts prescribed be reduced significantly...aka the dosages often given today are toxic/deadly to the animals. Overdose of meds are probably killing more than helping alot of reptiles, not intentionally, but by error and lack of overall knowledge how reptiles work physiologically by alot of vets - it is important for any herp keeper to become familiar with reptile afflictions/meds and reptile vets very well so much of the right questions can be asked, answered, and everyone feels better in the end....
cheers,
mbayless

" but where can I buy dirt?"

I go dig it up for free, the stuff you buy is either plant materials, or has fertilizer in it. That type of stuff is for plants, or fungus not monitors. Go dig some good field dirt (a few hundred pounds or so, or get some delivered by the truckload from a landscaper for $30-50. I dig, strain, carry and dump it for days for a large cage. And dont worry about bugs in it, they do nothing to your animal, and unless termites nothing to your house.

" Also, what would be a good amount of lobster roaches to start a colony? And are they able to climb glass?"

Lobster roaches climb almost anything, buy bugstop to keep them from escaping from rubbermaid containers and from the cage.

I've known people that breed roaches, and use Vasaline along the top of the aquarium/Rubbermaid to keep the babies from escaping out of a container. It's a pain to clean off, though, if you ever decide to use the container for something else.

Katrina

I used petroleum jelly before the bugstop for months but the stuff got very dirty quickly, and also in the heat flows down the container. Bugstop is a solid that wont flow after it dries and stays much cleaner and takes very little to work. Im sure it cleans alot easier to.

hi you will not regreat it, i just got a trio of ackies and theyare great. you can see them interact and play. mine are a month old now and i think i have a male and two females already as one is a lot bigger and tend to do all the mounting and chaceing.as for food i put in a load of crix and they just chase them down when they are hungry. great fun to watch. they really are awsome lizards.

cheersDanny uk.