Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Just a minute ago i was secretly observing my 17 inch bosc (he's still getting used to me and the new cage) and i noticed that he likes to spend a lot of his time trying to escape. Here's the problem. After he had clawed at a couple of the corners trying to get out, he decided to climb the basking bulbs or something. It's hard to explain, but he reared up on his hind legs, leaned his neck/chest against the bulbs and then wheeled his arms around for a couple of seconds. He kept sliding off, so its not like he's able to keep in direct contact for more than 1 or 2 seconds. He did this for about 15 seconds or so and then moved on to attacking the plants in his enclosure (short attention span, i guess). I was wondering if this could hurt him, and if so, what can i do to fix it? I have 2 125 watt spotlight that are made of all glass, not the metal flood lights like some people have. They are about 8 inches above the bricks and produce a basking spot of around 140 degrees. I don't know if this is revelant, but he has to get on his back legs to reach them, he can't touch them while in a normal basking position.

Thanx

Scott

Buy yourself a heat gun, and aim it at those bulbs. This should answer your question.

But in case you don't... My heat gun reads up to 440 degrees. It reads "error" when I point it directly at a 100 watt flood lamp.

That's hot.

Should i put the bulbs higher? then they would be farther away and the heat wouldn't be as concentrated. I would need to install a couple more, or should i make some sort of wire cage around them, so he can't touch them? Tell me what you guys have done with your cages.

Thanks,
Scott

A monitor that intent on escaping a cage can, and probably will burn itself.

But, why would a monitor do such a thing? Hmmmm....

Probably for the same reasons people would risk getting shot trying to get over the Berlin Wall.

Because thier environment is terribly uncomftorable, and escaping it is well worth the pain.

He's in an 80 gallon (4x2x2). Basking spot at one end that's 141 degrees. The cool end gets down to about 83 degrees during the day. During the night, his temperatures throughout the cage range from 70-90 degrees.

He has hiding spots at both ends and in the middle, so he can choose where he wants to hide/sleep. He has access to a water container big enough for his whole body. It is changed daily.

He has about 9-10 inches of dirt to dig in, although, he doesn't usually dig a whole lot. Everyday he gets a couple of pinkie rats or a hopper mouse or two, supplemented with crickets every once in a while to keep him active. He has access to heating from above and heating from below, 24 hours a day.

He's been growing like a weed, is very active and hasn't whipped, hissed, or bitten since i got him.

Creeps, you take a look at that care and tell me what i can do to fix my little piece of communist germany (other than get the lights out of his reach somehow).

Have a good day!

Scott

Sounds like your set up doesnt have acceptable soil/ hide conditions, and also may need a size upgrade. Try giving him more boards to hide in/ under. My little bosc loves her wood pile! Her light is within jumping range, but she hasnt shown any indication of trying it. In all honesty, there are gaps in the front doors that are large enough for her to squeeze through if she wanted to bad enough, but Ive never seen her even go near them. She spends almost all her time in/ on/ around her wooden hubble. Funny girl.

My Indicus are the same way. They dont spend as much time on their wood stack/ pile, but they prefere being burried, and rarely venture near the front or perimeters of their enclosure. When I had them in smaller set ups with less acceptable soil, they were constantly wall climbing, and trying to jump ON the lights. The female is a bit brighter than the male and avoided jumping on the light fixture, but the male seemed clueless that they were HOT! So you cant expect them to avoid potentially harmful situations. Some have the sense and some dont, but its our job to make them comforatable and safe. Ya know?

Allie's "wooden hubble" is approx 2' tall, 2' wide, and about 3' deep and has MANY levels to choose from. She is about the size of your animal. Ill try to post a pic of her tonight after I get my camera/ usb cable situation under control.

Hey Scott,

Creeps isn't attacking you, he's just trying to tell you to have a look at the root of the problem (the escape attempts) rather than at a bandaid solution (trying to prevent him from burning while trying to escape).

Monitors try to escape for many reasons, but if they spend an inordinate amount of time trying to do so, it really is worthwhile trying to figure out why. This isn't a criticism of your husbandry, but don't ever think that your (or anyone's) husbandry is perfect.

The two things I'd be looking at would be:

1. the hide spots. What sort are they and are they 'good' in your eyes or the monitor's? Lack of security would be a big motivator in escape attempts.
2. Being in an aquarium, what are you using for a lid? How are you holding in the heat and humidity?

There are 1001 and one reasons why a monitor would not feel comftorable in a cage.

You started with a WC individual, so I'm sure that didn't help.

I do not know why your monitor is so intent on escaping. All I know is that what you described is a sign of stress and discomfort.

As a precaution, I would probably cover up the light so it doesn't burn itself, and then try to figure out the problem.

Best of luck.

This was hobbes.

was?
oh, and buy the way, my 100watt bulbs melt the plastic and crack the glass on aquariums... now, think flesh.
ian
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buy the ticket, take the ride...

she has healed for 3 months in this picture

HI, first thing is I am pretty new here and to Monitors. Since we got ours I have been coming here a lot, I have posted a time or two. I read all the post, mainly to get information. I have tired to go threw the archives to find my answer. Spent about two hours looking yesterday. With no real results. Which my be due to my lack of know-how, but......
What happened to Hobbes? I mean I found the "Burn pictures" posted several months ago. But I never found any real information on how it happened, and how she is doing, how it affected her, all the information I am sure you shared, but I cant find. I am sorry to bother you, but now I am somewhat obsessed. It has been on my mind since yesterday, I have told my husband, a friend. For some reason what and how Hobbes was burned like that, and how you helped her deal with it ect. is very important to me. So i hope you are will to share this information one more time.
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Thanks
Candy
Savanna Monitor, Gecko(?), Iguana, 3 snakes (Gray Banded King, Amazon Tree Boa, Ribbon) Rabbit, Fereet, 5 mice, 5 fish, 2 parakeets, 6 turtles (4 water ?, 2 box) 3 Dogs, 2 cats. And I am sure the next hurt or abandonded (ect.) animal any one we know finds will soon live here too! Plus me, Hubby, our 3 kids, and 4 sisters that are not ours by blood. One BIG happy family

I think a whole list of things added up to her getting burned, all of which are my fault.

1st mistake, I didn't have her lamp secured super well, it was just a clamp lamp, and some hooks, I thought it was good, but... evidently it wasn't. The lamp fell into the dirt. The lamp caught said dirt on fire. I got home, and found my house full of smoke, and my monitor was trapped in a cage built to stop ventilation to keep heat and humidity in.

She threw up her shrimp, and looked like she felt terrible. So after a soak, and a thurough desmoking process. I put her back in, changed the lamp, and changed the dirt, and changed the way the lamp was secured. I got a nice 145 degree basking spot. She loved it. However in her sick condition and the fact that she wasn't feeling well, and the fact that the basking area wasn't very big was a problem. Also I used a spot bulb.

Mistake number 2, replacing bulb, creating a dirt mound for the basking area. Hobbes was burned there.

I took her to the vet, they clipped away the dead skin, and it burned her to the muscle. Those are the pictures that I posted, her skin just looked really crackly before the removed the dead skin. I had to give her antibiotics, and do wet/dry bandages for a few weeks. I still have hobbes, she's 29" now. She still eats good, and runs around but she doesn't have a scar. Monitors have amazing healing abilities if you figure out what went wrong and take the time to remedy the situation. Monitors are smart too. Hobbes doesn't like shots. I only got to give 5. On number 6 she knew which leg is was going into, and she knew it wouldn't feel good, and she figured if she just tried to kill me that I wouldn't give her the shot. It worked I'll get a recent photo for you.

This is her this morning, I dragged her out of her stack, she wasn't happy about it. She was even a bit hissy, but thats okay, she was a good model. PS those are 12"by12" tiles she's standing on.

If you want more pictures let me know.

Oscar

Thank you for sharing that horrible experience with me. I am very very sorry this happened. She sure is beautiful. I would love any pictures you would like to send.
My monitor "Smoug" is not very pretty yet, but.....
The pet store we use had someone drop him off a few days before they gave him to us. The owner "knows" us because we have so many pets we are there enough to have had true conversations by this point. He said he did not have the time or the knowledge to care for this animal, so he gave it to us to "Help." When we got him he was almost dead. Dehydrated, very very under weight, his tail was almost flat. He had many broken toes, weak, he would not even walk. we have never had a monitor, so i went to the Internet and read. it took many soakings and many tries to get him to finally eat. we had tied the canned dog food, but he never ate any. we finally got him to eat worms. very few and slowly but and after awhile he was eating eagerly, we then went to mice. we messed up twice getting him large hoppers, cause we seen them again a few days later (very stinky and disgusting). So he gets small to medium sized hoppers now
we have had him almost 3 months, he runs now, he has a real tail now (was almost a tee with zero fat reserve), he has lost most of the wrinkle on his body now from about growing into his skin again. And he is now having his first shed since we got him. So he is greatly improving. But this shed is happening in flaky pieces, some small some kinda large and it looks like, with his variable stages of shedding around his body that he many not have lost all his shed. He was dull and gray, but it looks like some places have thicker patches of skin to come off. I have been soaking him more, which he loves, and rubbing him down, which he hates. But I don't know how aggressively to do this. I don't know how old he is, and he is not quite OK with humans enough for me to try to measure him, and no one in my house is quite willing to help. lol Sorry for babbling, and I am sorry Hobbes for you being disturbed for a photo secession for me.
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Thanks
Candy
Savanna Monitor, Gecko(?), Iguana, 3 snakes (Gray Banded King, Amazon Tree Boa, Ribbon) Rabbit, Fereet, 5 mice, 5 fish, 2 parakeets, 6 turtles (4 water ?, 2 box) 3 Dogs, 2 cats. And I am sure the next hurt or abandonded (ect.) animal any one we know finds will soon live here too! Plus me, Hubby, our 3 kids, and 4 sisters that are not ours by blood. One BIG happy family

My monitors don't shed like snakes, they always come off in peices, now if its more than one layer thats not normal

I gotta run 2 month old is crying

Oscar

Thanks.
you sound like you have your hands full also. A baby two month old is wonderful, but you is a lot of work.
Thank you for being so nice, sharing your info, and answering me.
If you will send me pictures.
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Thanks
Candy
Savanna Monitor, Gecko(?), Iguana, 3 snakes (Gray Banded King, Amazon Tree Boa, Ribbon) Rabbit, Fereet, 5 mice, 5 fish, 2 parakeets, 6 turtles (4 water ?, 2 box) 3 Dogs, 2 cats. And I am sure the next hurt or abandonded (ect.) animal any one we know finds will soon live here too! Plus me, Hubby, our 3 kids, and 4 sisters that are not ours by blood. One BIG happy family

Have any questions email me