Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I just recieved my first nile today from LLLReptiles. I'm a little concerned about it though. Almost everything I've read on them says that theyre very aggressive lizards and if it takes months to tame them(if they ever get tame). I also heard that when you approach them, they usually run away to their hide. I was very suprised when I openned the bag today to find that he barely moved. I picked him up, he moved a little but no agression or biting or tail whipping. Then I put him on a branch in the cage and left the room for about an hour. When I returned, he was still on that same exact spot. Is this normal for baby niles?

For a healthy nile at proper temps, no it's not normal. He could just be cold though.
In any case, you need to get him to a vet to be checked out.

Jim

I just checked on him again, hes still sitting right where I left him, on the basking spot. I picked him up and he actually tried to get away and then jumped out of my hands into the cage, but still no agression signs.

He's starting to move around the cage a little, but when he walks, he has to open his mouth to breathe, and seems like his heaving his chest up to breathe. I dont think this is normal. I thought getting a monitor from a special reptile store online would have given me healthy animals... I'm very upset and disapointed.

He's probaly just stressed. Imagine someone grabbing you, putting you in a sack, then get stuck in a box and shipped to who knows where. You are then taken out of the box and sack and some big ugly creature grabs you and puts you someplace you know nothing about. Kinda freaky huh.
Give it a little while to get used to it's new home and see how things work out.

Scott
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Do not meddle in the affairs of dragons, for you are crunchy and taste good with ketchup.

I've found that new arrivals are almost in a "shock" state and don't typically act aggressive. This has happened with my sav, 2 tegu's and my newest arrival, my water monitor (also from LLLreptile). My water kept walking over to door I had open in the cage wanting out, and I could pick it up with one hand and move it back inside the cage. I did this many times without it acting aggressive at all. Now, a few days later, he's starting to act like he should
Wait a few days after it's had a chance to go hide. Once it's over that initial shock, it "should" return to a nasty tempered little guy, that is, as long as the temps in the cage are correct

>>I just recieved my first nile today from LLLReptiles. I'm a little concerned about it though. Almost everything I've read on them says that theyre very aggressive lizards and if it takes months to tame them(if they ever get tame). I also heard that when you approach them, they usually run away to their hide. I was very suprised when I openned the bag today to find that he barely moved. I picked him up, he moved a little but no agression or biting or tail whipping. Then I put him on a branch in the cage and left the room for about an hour. When I returned, he was still on that same exact spot. Is this normal for baby niles?
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Keep the basking spot high...good ambient temps.. and just leave it alone for a while. Don't touch it.. don't bother it....Hell wait a day or two to even try feeding it. If you'd been collected from some nice place in the wild.. stuck in a box with a hundred others of your species (and some NOT your species) Shipped halfway round the world. Dumped into a pen at a wholesalers... sold to a distrubutor and repackaged and shipped again...Distributor then sells to the consumer and once again they're packaged up and shipped to god knows where with who the hell knows how much rough handling of the package... you'd be shell-shocked too.. Hoping that if you sit still long enough.. everything will just leave you alone and maybe then you can get time to warm up...and hide for as long as possible. Give him heat.. good burrowing substrate, a big water pan, hide spots and food...do regular cage maintenance and let him get used to you before you go grabbing at him. Just so you know.. I got my Savannah Monitor from LLLReptiles...She came in the same way.. cold...shocky and unmoving. I gave her a warm soak and then put her in her cage to settle for a while. Gave it a week and then fed her. She came to me a bit thinner than she should have been.. but she was clean of parasites when I had a fecal smear and float done.. which was a small miracle all its own. I've had her retested and she's still clean so I was quite happy with LLLReptile's service.
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Lucien

1.1 Columbian Redtail Boa (BCI)(Sutekh and Isis)
2.1.1 Leopard geckos (2 Blizzards (Caine and Goliath), 1 Tangerine Albino (Tequila Sunrise ...Tiki for short) and 1 dbl. het blizzard x tang albino (Malice))
0.1 Savannah Monitor (Kiros)
13 rats
1 Gerbil
2 Dogs (Loki and Storm)
2 cats (Sahara and Hercules)

Well unfortunetley I guess it wasnt just stress. I woke up this morning,to find him stiff as a board, eyes shut. He was getting worse and worse as the night went on, by the time I went to bed at 11:00, he had to practically lift himself off the ground for each breathe, and gape his entire mouth open to get a breathe. He could also barely open his eyes. He would also go into these little attacks where it looked like it was dry heaving and his entire body would shake. It was very nerve racking to stand there and watch this, knowing that there was nothing I could do. What could have caused this?

Don't know enough about them to offer an answer, but be sure to contact LLLReptile, I'm sure if you explain the situation to them, they'll make it right. I've always had good customer service from them.

Sorry for your loss.

It may be possible if you took it out of the bag and put it into an enclosure with preset temps that it went into shock from a sudden change in temps. I ususally have my cages at room temp when adding a monitor to a new home then gradually raising it to prevent shock. Just a possible cause. You just received so LLLReptile should have no problem with replacing it.
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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)

Sorry about your animal.
When I received my baby water I immediately put it in a small rubbermaid tub with some lukewarm water (warm wet papertowels actualy) and kept it in there for a good hour or so. After the long trip from LLL (Cali to Mizzou) I figured it needed some hydration. Also, it was Ferbruary and the heat packs were losing some of their power. It was important to me not to blast it with high heat but to let it warm up gradually.

I may be wrong but it sounds more to me like the end stages of a serious r.i the heaving/fitting was probably caused by fluid building up on the lungs, anyway sorry to hear about your loss