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I've been noting down behaviour patterns for my water. Just thought of comparing with anybody else to see if anythings amiss.

Morning:
Usually found under his basking log or sometimes he will stay in his water tank until afternoon.

Afternoon:
He will bask for awhile and usually retreats under the log and just curls there doing nothing. Probably because this is the hottest time of the day.

Evening:
Stalks around, basks and also can be found under the basking log.

Night:
I think he usually eats at night, or when no people are around. He will retire to the water container to sleep the night through.

He eats mealworms and monitor food though I don't think he likes it very much. There were no more chirping sounds this afternoon when I came back so I assume he hunted down all the crickets.

All monitors are individuals, in that they each have their own individual behavioral patterns, ie. feeding, basking, sleeping, breeding, etc... One thing that I can relate to with your observations is the nocturnal behavior. I have whitnessed active nightime behavior with many species in my collection, including breeding, feeding, digging, nesting, escaping-lol....

take care,

bob

The Odatriad

Aye, others have said too that all monitors are different, but I was thinking wouldn't monitors of the same species share similar behaviour? Like my water monitors preference for sleeping in water and retreating to water whenever he feels threatened.

As for the nocturnal part, I'm not too sure. I've observed him until around 9pm plus after which he seems to sleep and I switch off the lights. Not sure if he does anything after that though.

He has another habit, if I open his tank and get too near, after retreating to the water, he will close his eyes and lie at the bottom of the tank. Playing dead maybe?

When you say your monitor eats 'monitor food', do you mean the tinned, preprepaired stuff?

As far as your monitor hiding in water: "Like my water monitors preference for sleeping in water and retreating to water whenever he feels threatened." It sounds to me like your monitor either doesn't have secure enough hiding spots, or humid enough hiding spots. It's also possible that the whole cage doesn't hold enough humidity. Are you using a screen top? Read FR's post below.

"He has another habit, if I open his tank and get too near, after retreating to the water, he will close his eyes and lie at the bottom of the tank. Playing dead maybe?" Monitors don't play dead. If it retreats to the water when you open the tank, it is trying to hide from you. If it closes its eyes, it's quite possible it is extremely stressed.

When I said "monitors don't play dead", I meant YOUR monitor is not playing dead.

First its great that you are watching your monitor. But, what you see may not be about a monitors natural behaviors, but more about what your individual monitor is doing to deal with captivity. Please think about this.

Secondly, you seem to be prejudicing your observations/notes already. That is, your putting labels on your observations. i.e. hes doing this because, such and such. Think about it, your new, the monitors new, what do you know? If your writing down notes, simply write them down without prejudice. Later, after periods of time, you can compare notes and see if they are telling you something.

Try taking notes, then after 90 day periods, look at them compile them. Do that every 90 days. (four seasons, four periods) After a while, you may see something.

Also, what you are seeing is most likely products of captivity, not products of natural behavior. Sleeping in a water dish is commonly a product of a screen top, the monitor is dehydrated and can only conserve water by doing this. Water monitors, normally do not sleep in water in nature. Coming out at night, has little to do with being nocturnal, its more likely an avoidence behavior.(as you noted)

Remember not to confuse your cage with nature or a water dish with what a monitor would really be exposed to in nature(lakes, streams, billibongs, swamps. Monitors in nature do not pick a spot in nature, because it has water, but instead for what the water provides. A little water dish does not provide what nature does.

Remember its common for Savs to sleep in water dishs, yet they are not water monitors. Also, closing the eyes may not be sleeping. Check heartrate.

Keep taking notes and having fun. But please understand, your cage has little to do with nature and how a species reacts to it. Good Luck FR

Yes, its some commercially prepared food for monitors and such. Its possible humidity is a problem, I'll be adding an acrylic top soon, over the mesh. Thanks for the advice!