Reptile & Amphibian Forums

i posted a little while ago but got no responses, i just got my btm ordered from reptiledepot.com, he's a bit thin. Whats the best diet i can offer for him? the same as my savannah? hes prob about 15-18 inches at most still a little guy. Also how can u tell the sex of them, and last can i introduce the savvy and the black throat? any help is moore than welcome thankks

And no cage ready for both.

" Whats the best diet i can offer for him?"
Whole animals and alot of them, when healthy they seem to eat unendingly.

"Also how can u tell the sex of them"
It shows on an albig at 2 months or so old, and its obvious. The females are a bit larger in the mid section, males have BULGES on their tail base, males have a different shaped head. The best way to tell is females lay eggs.

" and last can i introduce the savvy and the black throat? any help is moore than welcome thankks"

How about if you want to feed the BT an expesive meal you could, it wont be long if healthy and the BT will double the boscs size, and triple it. A cage should have been ready for the animal before it showed up, a separate cage.

Albigs are known to eat lizards of all types, and where the 2 animals territories cross the albig is a known predator of bosc monitors as well theyve been known to eat niles that are small enough.

Your wrong with a few things. Maybe you say i wasnt ready for the savannah because i asked question to get more info, and thats all it was, you guys are much MORE expierenced than I, so i asked questions that could easily be answered. And with the cages, i have 2 large seperate cages for each, it didnt cross my mind of putting the two in the same cage. Im not trynin to come off as rude, but i just left out the fact the i had two large different cages set up for each before they arrived, and all im trying to get is more info so i can have the happiest healthiest monitors possible......

Two things, not all BT's can be accurately sexed at two months, some for sure, but not even most. That said, there is a 50/50 chance of being right simply by guessing. So, if many/most cannot be sexed at two months, then its of no benefit.

Next, Yes you can keep a Sav with a BT. Most cannabilism in captivity is caused by extreme hunger, but not all. Keeping them wellfed helps, but does not entirely prevent problems. Now, If your willing to gamble the life of one(or both) of your monitors, go ahead. So, in all intent and purposes, Shvar is right, don't do it, until your very very experienced and willing to take a harsh result. Good Luck FR

Like i said b4, it never crossed my mind of caging the two monitors together in the same tank. I have TWO LARGE SEPERATE tanks for the savv, and the BT. I wuz just simply asking if it would be alrite to introduce the two to eachother, like let them roam about together for a little under supervision, thats all.

To introduce, means to tell each one the others name and have them shake hands? hahahahahahahahahahahahaha

Normally with keeping monitors, to introduce, means putting an individual into another individuals cage. Normally with the intent of keeping them together.

At least now, you won't have to ask that question, good luck FR

You said it was too much I believe? I dont remember the exact words because the post was removed as a rule infraction. $30 plus shipping, was that it?

"Your wrong with a few things. Maybe you say i wasnt ready for the savannah because i asked question to get more info, and thats all it was"

Refer to above..

"you guys are much MORE expierenced than I, so i asked questions that could easily be answered."

And they were answered.

"And with the cages, i have 2 large seperate cages for each, it didnt cross my mind of putting the two in the same cage."

You never mentioned 2 cages, you said introduce the 2, that means to put them together, but if you want to risk one or both then go ahead. I answered that with the fact that Albigs eat Boscs as long as they fit in their mouths, and sometimes even a full Albig will try to kill and eat other monitors on site. By the way they have a nasty habit of trying to crush the head and neck if they get ahold of them, it happens very fast. Ask Mark Bayless about his nile and what happened when his albig grabbed it, I recall it crushed the niles head instantly.

Man, i thought this forum and website was to help people that needed it but all you guys do is [bleep]in criticize people for asking questions that they dont know about. and for the savannah i believe the post that i did put up wuz trying to sell monitor because interest has gone towards snakes, not even close to "He's too much to handle" so i gave it a try to get some money and a nice home for him. Wuz that a crime, i think the guy wuz abused as a baby because for the past 4 months of daily handling he becomes more and more timid regardless of much TLC, so i made an effort to get him to someone who could maybe care for him better than i. maybe if all u guys have is [bleep] to talk than dont post back

don't ask such questions if you don't expect flippant answers.

if you don't know basic things like what to introduce means, and the other very basic things then you shouldn't have a monitor.

also, the way you write i imagine irritated some or made it difficult to take you seriously, as you can see in my headline.

i have snakes too, i find them fun, but sometimes when i am bored i sit in front of my monitors enclosures and kick back with a beer and enjoy the view, the snakes never get such attention, lol.

andrew

Reality check, we answered your questions, you are more worried about your pride than hearing the truth. Nowhere did anyone insult you, but maybe if you want to be taken serious youll read whats typed not attitude thats not there. You tried to sell your monitor when you either lost interest, wanted something a bit different or thought a different species would be more cool to own. None the less it was removed as a breach of Pet Hobbyist rules. Type in english it helps as opposed to slang or ebonics. Ive tried to help you, you read whats not there instead of plain english. The problem is that most of the questions answered every other day just like yours are from someone who has done the same things you have, just like many before them, and some read attitude into every answer given to them, no matter what, seems to be typical of your age group.

But how old was your female albig, when you realized you had the sex wrong? As I recall it was quite a bit older than two months. I'm not into albigs, I don't keep them, but for someone to mistake the sex of a monitor, then later claim it's 'obvious' at a much younger age than their folly, seems misleading.

I agree with most of what you say, but I think telling very new people sexing by physical traits is reliable at a young age, is baiting them into repeating your mistake. Personally, when I am tricked by a monitor's sex, I question the accuracy of what I see/saw.

I'll shut up now....

--Robert

If you compare 2 known you cant mistake them. After learning from mistakes you keep the info alot better.

Simply a misreading of traits or perhaps a combination of that and over confidence.

From an external view, you mistaking a close to year old albig and turning around and saying they all are obvious at two months is well... insane.

I think you have proven it is NOT as obvious as you claim.

--Robert

..Im not stooping that low, because Ive always thought of you as a good guy.

"but for someone to mistake the sex of a monitor, then later claim it's 'obvious' at a much younger age than their folly, seems misleading. "

Yes, I made a mistake, and yes I admitted to that and many other mistakes that IVE LEARNED FROM. Lets not get into pointing out mistakes or what weve learned from them, as not learning from them makes those mistakes in vain. What I noticed in that mistake was that I had a few responses from the same people who said and I quote "hahaha, I told you so", "didnt somebody point that out before", and my favorite one was an individual who claimed they told me so when they were jumping the band wagon. Oh well shows me who to take serious. FR was the only one to point out my mistake and yes that was at close to a year old, and he said "I dont want to say, I told you so but", this was at 1.5 years old. Just like my mistake on substrate which caused her to be unable to lay eggs, but ya know I didnt risk her life by letting it go too long, I asked when common sense told me there was a problem, and her ability to lay eggs wasnt worth her life.

You stated it was 'obvious', without context. If you said it was obvious to you, you would just be arrogant, but the way it was stated was incredibly misleading. I was actually giving you the benefit of the doubt, in saying it wasn't obvious.

--Robert

Hi Shvar,

Although V. albigularis has been reported (in private comm.) to feed on other V. albigularis in RSA, this was a captive scenario. Furthermore, there are no "wild" accounts of V. albigularis feeding on one another, although I suppose it could happen; I saw my own 6'2" female V. albigularis kill a 4 foot V. niloticus by crushing its head, but never attempted to eat it, only kill it outright.

There are no reports of "wild" V. niloticus feeding on V. albigularis either to the best of my knowledge - if I am wrong, Please tell me where this is written and by whom?

As for V. exanthematicus and V. niloticus, yes there are several accounts of them feeding upon one another adults -> juveniles of both species feeding on both species (see Cisse, 1972; Lenz, 1995).

As for V. griseus, there are several accounts of this, and I think I have a photo of such a thing happening, given to me years ago by a entomologist.

cheers,
mbayless

Albig not visa-versa. That was posted here by you with a reference I believe.

Why did you order the blackthroat BEFORE finding out its requirements? Im personally curious about that one. Can we see some pics of the enclosures? Its interesting to me that you would have enough knowledge to build a suitable enclosure for it, but not have any idea about how or what to feed.

You guys shouldnt jump to soo many conclusions because im new with some stuff. I had a tank for my savannah, and now a temp. enclosure for the black throat which will be fine for the next few months as my new tank it being built. Maybe i did jump into it too fast but i didnt go into it blind, i did do research and found out most of the things i need to know. And for you sayin i dont even kno wut to feed it, are questions not aloud to be asked on these post just because they are simple questions? i asked to get an opinion of someone with experience with these monitors so i can feed it exactly what it needs to be fat and healthy, why dont you guys try askin questions before blowing up on me

Under the shelf is his hide its not on the ground

Boy oh boy, is she gonna be mad!

At this point, other than "good luck", I have no further comments...

Getting the animal. Most articles and books on proper pet care of any species mention the same thing, research and ask questions (specific and thorough) before jumping in head over heels and buying and animal that now has to suffer because of your impulses.