Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Hello, I recently saw a pair of blue tree monitors in the classifieds section. My boyfriend fell in love with them. Does anyone have any experiance with these? How big do they get? Can they become tame/handeable? How prolific are their breeding patterns? If you have any info or a site I could look at I would greatly appreciate a response. Thanks.
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~Brian and Kerri~

Hello kerri,

I have some experience with Blue Tree Monitors. I must say that these are difficult animals to properly care for, and do require a significant investment of both time and money in order to keep them alive and thriving.

As a keeper of the four recognized species of tree monitors(excluding keithornei), I have seen that blues are the largest of the complex. My male is a inch or two shy of 4 feet, while my female is over 3. I do not have any exact measurements on these, as I do not handle my monitors, especially WC tree monitors- they do not tame down, nor do they benefit from handling. Handling will severelly stress the animal/s out, and will affect its overall health. If you are looking for a beautiful monitor to hold, I'd suggest a red ackie, or something in the subgenera Odatria.

As far as breeding goes, although once settled in, and if their conditions are perfect, they may become "prolific", however, this has not been the case, as tree monitors take a very long time to acclimate to life in a box, and many times, "mates" introduced to one another are not compatible or attracted to one another... So breeding these is not an easy task at all, in fact, it appears that hatching tree monitor eggs, is proving to be the most difficult to do..

SO if this is something you're looking at getting into to make mucho dinero($), I don't think this is the right candidate for you.. Perhaps start out with something Captive Bred, such as Ackies or Tristis, etc...

I see a lot of people jump into tree monitor ownership without the basic tools required to learn about their basic needs and requirements, such as water.... These guys need lots of humidity, otherwise they'll dehydrate and die... It happens all too frequently when they are kept in aquariums with screen tops, and never misted.... They require big, spacious enclosures, with different temperature gradients, high humidity, clean water, and many hiding spaces...

If you scroll down in the forum a couple of weeks, you'll see some of my opnions/experience with acclimating tree monitors.. You'll see that I believe that humidity/water/moisture is the key ingredient to their success, and everything else follows from there..

I also have a bunch of pics and info on my website.. Contact me if you should have any other questions concerning my animals/husbandry/etc... as people will tell you, I'm always here to chat and speak about my experiences, both good and bad...

But I stress: please do not jump into ownership of this species, or any species for that matter, until you feel you have a grasp on the animals needs.... be very skeptical of what you read in books... much of it is incorrect...

Take care, have a great day!!

odatriad@yahoo.com

The Odatriad

and here's another site about macraei as well, enjoy... click the link below...

cheers..

treevaranus

V. macraei link....

Thanks for your reply. Your site and the one you provided were very informative. We won't be getting them any time soon, and perhaps by the time we are ready there will be captive bred hatchlings that are more acclimated to life in a cage. Thanks again, and great looking monitors on your site!
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~Brian and Kerri~