Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Jeff was kind enough to send these photos so they could be posted for all to see. If you are thinking of getting an ornate or a common Nile, consider that it may get this size and will unlikely be this calm.

The size:

Where it lives:

An average meal:

Just kidding, that's Jeff's little boy, Matt.

Thanks, Jeff!

I had that pic as my wallpaper for most of the summer! I gotta move somewhere warmer!!!
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"My favorite thing about the internet is that you get to go into the private world of real creeps and you dont have to smell them."
Penn Jillette (1955-present), in a compuserve chat

what are you doing up at this hour? I just posted that!

Hi Jeff! What a great looking monitor! What is his history? You said you got him at 70#, but do you know how old he is, how he was raised (feeding, housing, etc), and just out of curiosity, what does he eat at an average sitting, and how often? Thanks! Billy

>>Jeff was kind enough to send these photos so they could be posted for all to see. If you are thinking of getting an ornate or a common Nile, consider that it may get this size and will unlikely be this calm.
>>
>>The size:
>>
>>
>>Where it lives:
>>
>>
>>An average meal:
>>
>>
>>Just kidding, that's Jeff's little boy, Matt.
>>
>>Thanks, Jeff!

Hey Billy,
I actually have known this animal his whole life. Anybody who was at the monitor and iguana symposium in San Diego in 1996 would have met him. A friend of mine bought him as a hatchling and spent a whole lot of time with him. My friend is a falconer and knows a great deal about birds, but not too much about monitors; so I used to help him out alot. Skritch is a little over 10 years old and I got him 4 years ago because my friend couldn't keep him anymore. The reason he was so fat was that he lived in a 6 foot cage (but got to go outside alot). He also ate mainly squirrels that the guy's hawks would catch. So now he has lived in the big cage for 4 years, gets alot of excercise, gets alot of heat, and eats alot of small to medium-sized meals. Typical meal is a medium rat, a fish, turkey diet, or any number of other things about 2-3 times per week. I would normally feed my monitors more, but I have to watch his weight closely.

Really big monitors seem to be such a rarity these days that whenever I see or hear of one, I like to get the history - call me nosy! Hahaha!! Thanks again for sharing.
Billy

>>Hey Billy,
>> I actually have known this animal his whole life. Anybody who was at the monitor and iguana symposium in San Diego in 1996 would have met him. A friend of mine bought him as a hatchling and spent a whole lot of time with him. My friend is a falconer and knows a great deal about birds, but not too much about monitors; so I used to help him out alot. Skritch is a little over 10 years old and I got him 4 years ago because my friend couldn't keep him anymore. The reason he was so fat was that he lived in a 6 foot cage (but got to go outside alot). He also ate mainly squirrels that the guy's hawks would catch. So now he has lived in the big cage for 4 years, gets alot of excercise, gets alot of heat, and eats alot of small to medium-sized meals. Typical meal is a medium rat, a fish, turkey diet, or any number of other things about 2-3 times per week. I would normally feed my monitors more, but I have to watch his weight closely.

San diego? So do you know James Wilson? He had a big ornate at one time as well. I know he doesn't live over that way anymore but thought I would ask.

Thanks for sharing with us all.

Hi,
Yeah, I know James - I almost got that ornate from him. I hear he's back in town now too. Glad you liked Skritch.

I thought James and you knew eachother. His ornate was rocken too I dont recall how big but it sure wasn't small.

I have Waddi here his water monitor. Who is getting larger day to day LOL Now if only he would be nice to his g/f.

I swaer James doesn't sit still for long. He din't stay here in FL. for to long. If you see him tell him I said Hello.

One other question I have is do you bring your nile indoors for the winter? or is he outdoors all year long? If he is outdoors what temps does he deal with? Thanks

seriously though,thats one huge kicka55 nile!nice to see someone with an adultOne question though,would you have took it on if it was "normal",as in nile temperament normal?Anyway thanks again to jeff and Dk for supplying and posting respectively
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see yah laterz people
jason

Where is that cage located?? Are you a private owner or do you work for an institution? If you're a private owner then you should be given a medal, because thats serious dedication to the hobby. Congratulations on the enclosure as well. What other monitors or reptiles do you own??

Bill

Hi Bill,
Glad you like my monitor and cage (and I really don't need a medal, lol). I am a field biologist/herpetologist and work for an institution, but that cage is at my house. I work with all sorts of large lizards in the field and I believe they should get large enclosures. I have kept most of the pet trade monitors and worked with alot in Australia in captivity. I have kept so many species of herps in general I wouldn't know where to begin, but right now (at home) I have Sanzinia (11 babies this November, yeah), Telescopus dhara, Nile, and some other critters will hopefully arrive this week (trying to build up my collection again after living in Oz).

What institution do you work for? Do you even have a backyard? LOL. That looks very nice. I'd love to work with large lizards in the field.

curator of reptiles for the sandiego zoo and a nice helpful guy. andrew
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VARANUS CREATIONS

Breeders and Hobbyists of Kimberly Rock Monitors, Red Ackies, Argus, Argus x Flavi crosses, Gouldi x Flavi crosses, Argus x Gouldi x Flavi crosses, Jungle Carpet Pythons, Bredl's Pythons, Dunn's Pythons, Western Hognose Snakes, South American Boas, Atheris Squamiger, Leopard Geckos and rare Spiders.

Hello Jeff, congratulations on your whoppingly impressive nile not to mention your whopper of an enclosure. Thanks DK for the pics. I was possibly considering a part time outdoor enclosure for my WT and her future playmates. At this time I have one of those 10 x 20 ready made dog kennels I got from home depot which gets no use.My question is what do use or do to keep them from digging out from under the enclosure. Any information is greatly appreciated. Thanks!

that must be one of the best looking niles i have seen, absolutly stunning. how old is he?

also Jeff, i used a picture of that enclosure on my site for the housing section, i had tried to contact you but couldn't get in touch with you. hope you don't mind. if you want me to remove it, please let me know here, as my email is down right now.
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- ianaré

Hi all,
Sorry my time is limited so its hard to get all the questions taken care of. Glad everyone liked Skritch and his cage - didn't think it would get so much attention, lol. Anyways:
Jody: he stays outside year-round; the coldest it gets in my area is about 40 F, but that barn you see in the cage is made of 2-foot-thick bales of hay and there is a large pig blanket under the hay he can lay on. It covers his whole body and keeps the ambient temps in there pretty warm so burns have never been a problem.
ratzu: Mesh is burried under the dirt and attached to the fence so he cannot dig out.
booradly/andrew: I am not curator of reptiles, I am a research animal coordinator at SDZ's Center for Reproduction of Endangered Species (CRES) - the research/conservation division of the zoo.
ianare: no worries on the pic, nice site