Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I have a hatchling monitor, how much of the day should he spend sitting in his cave and not coming out?

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Jaye- " When you try of all your forces to make your own way, you will help some of others and will be helped by others. As long as you do not make your own way, you cannot help anybody, and nobody can help you. " (Shunryu Suzuki)

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Jaye- " When you try of all your forces to make your own way, you will help some of others and will be helped by others. As long as you do not make your own way, you cannot help anybody, and nobody can help you. " (Shunryu Suzuki)

so ur saying that its better that i wing it with no help, thus increasing the chance of the monitor dying, then it is to ask around for what i should do, because when my monitor dies,i will be able to tell others what not to do since i must of been doing everything wrong?

lol I again appologize since i had mistaken you for another. You have every right to find out whats right or wrong for your monitor.

Depending on the size of you enclosure wattage really doesnt matter as along as your heating element can reach your desired temp and is maintained by use of some sort of rheostat or the like to control the temps. Basking sites can also be adjusted for lower wattages by moving them up or down to reach desired temps. Most if not all hatchlings will hide alot and be very skittish so nothing to worry about there, just give it some space, food, water and heat and it'll come around.
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Jaye- " When you try of all your forces to make your own way, you will help some of others and will be helped by others. As long as you do not make your own way, you cannot help anybody, and nobody can help you. " (Shunryu Suzuki)

haha alright thank you for the advice

If your air temps are as high as you posted (105-120 on the warm end) theres a good reason to hide, to survive the heat. If it wants to or needs to come out when your temps are usable it will on its own.