Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I just got a ornate nile monitor, seems healthy but covered in mites, at the moment he is soaking in warm water, and I used provent a mite in his enclosure, he is about 12 inches, and he seems pretty chilled out, hasn't tried to bite or whip, can I be lucky and have gotten a tame nile, also what else do I need to get rid of the mites.

Thank you

Tony Butler

considering that
1. niles are not know for being tame creatures that love contact with humans,
and
2. its covered in mites,

I'd say you are the proud owner of a juvenille wild caught nile. (Chances are that is.) Once the stress of the move, and hisnew home wears off I bet you find you have yourself a perfectly ordinary Nile quite capable and desiring to bite the crap out of you. Good luck in any case and enjoy your new pet.

Keeping their animals in such lousey shape to allow mites to make it to a customer, tells you to never buy from them again, unless they came from your collection then Id be treating the whole house to get rid of them. If it came to you covered in mites Id complain on the BOI about that business and let others know about that problem. Im not sure how good provamite works but Id never spend my money on it. I use Black knight which I bought a few years ago as a case, it works better than any insect killer period, and is safe to use on almost any reptile if used correctly, it kills eggs, nymphs, adults, etc., one treatment and done. Most probably the seller moves alot of cheaply priced animals through nasty dirty cages fast and doesnt bother to clean them.
Good luck, Black knight cant be bought for now.

how do I go about reporting them, since his bath and the provent a mite I havent seen any mites like I said his weight and size are good is it even worth reporting I recently bought a tegu from the same people and it is in tip top condition

Wild caught animals commonly have worms and mites. This is one of the main reasons you should always search for a CB when possible. If the animal's weight and health are actually good, then I would let the shop know about it and see if they can help you (free treatments, possibly they are in good with a vet, etc.)

The sad truth is most shops do not have the time and wont spend the money to treat all the animals they encounter. This means you must as the owner. Any new animal should be quarantined, closely observed and treated for worms and mites IMO. We used to deal with a shop that did this to every WC animal it received. In the 3 years we did business with them, it was a fairly rare thing for an animal to make it to a new owner with mites or worms. But this is surely not the norm for pet shops.

All this is a testament to CB animals and their breeders. One reason CB's are so much more expensive is becasue someone has obsessed over its care since before it hatched to ensure it health was as goog as possible. In the future we will be purchasing only CB animals. WC's are just too much work and possess too high a risk of making our other animals sick.

If they dont then your fine, if they do treat it again and again until they are gone.
Id look closely at your tegu, check closely every few days for mites. Not to say it has them or not but Id be worried. Watch your whole collection closely since you got one with mites in.

my tegu, ball, frilled and my water monitor are all in a separate room. I always quarantine new animals, he seems healthy, basking alot and eating good. The sad part is that he didn't come from some pet store, he came from a very well known reptile shop in california, and at the arizona reptile show is where I bought him thank you,

Tony Butler

Sorry, I'm a bit confused. You bought him at the show after inspecting him?

i wouldnt say bought it more like rescued it, the price was for 55 and i got him for 25 I think. I have never liked any nile monitor, my first lizard was a nile from petco a mistake i was never going to make again, then I saw this ornate nile, while the pattern, was similar i just loved the fact that the bands were more defined and clear cut. So I boought him, after inspecting, now i have gotten mites off my ball pythons and my old burm but never on a lizard, I didnt know if they hid in the ears the same way the hide in the snakes eyes, the monitor is in good health and I am taking him to have a fecal exam later today, I was just looking for another way to, or any method you guys or gals have used to get them off your monitors, as for now there arent any mites but I do expect them to return, but just to let you all know I do know that most ornates and niles are wild caught and filled with multiple types of parasites I went into this , knowing the requirements and problems of owning one, the nile i had lived with me for 4 years. i dont believe a animal has to be friendly to thrive in captivity, i may not like caring for the nile but its a chance i am willing to take and from what I hear working with niles can be very rewarding, if you have the time and patience, I guess what this post boils down to is that my ornate nile, or ornate monitor, or whatever the hell it is, was covered in mites, and had a great personality, and for the past two days he hasnt ran from my hand, bit or whipped me or even attempted to, I dont care about the current species taxonomy on the ornate, all that I care about, is that i am going to take care of my nile, ornate or whatever it is......

thanks

tony butler

if he's as friedly as you say more than likely he is just sick ,not friendly

okay i agree that is probably the problem, but in your honest opinion, you dont think its possible to have a tame nile? I agree i have nver heard of or seen one, That is why i am taking him to the vet, I know niles have a reputation for being extremely defensive my other nile "dayton" was as a$$hole he just loved to bite me whenever he had the chance. I am willing to spend my own money taking him to the vet to get him healthy, and like I said that is all I want, I dont need a pet that wants to sit on my lap and snuggle, that is why I have a dog, My reptiles are a hobby, I take excellent care of them all, and just want them to be happy and healthy, And maybe, just maybe I may have a nile that is a gem, like with bearded dragons a majority are very tolerant and tame, but every once in a while you get one that just bites and never comes to trust humans, I believe that my work in reverse for niles, and with the posts I have read in this forum most of the people in here agree that monitors of all species have different personalities, and hopefully in the long run I will have a happy, healthy, and normal nile. and that is all that I am expecting

Thanks

tony butler

its my understanding that the ornate are easier to work with than niles so it could be he is nice,but having external parasites than there a good chance that it has internal ones as well making it sick and leading you to belive its docile
best of luck

But that it has mites from that source, from that store, from that supplier, if they are big and well known then that shows they either are known for quality and customer satisfaction or are mass suppliers of cheap animals, niles usually fall into that category of mass cheap priced imports sold in every corner petstore and many cases by employees that know squat about them and dont take very good care of them but convince you with flashy signs, clean shiny floors, well organized shelves and alot of pretty animals to choose from at low prices that they do know what they are doing. Something to think about ProExotics doesnt and wont sell niles or bosc monitors, they also are known for their quality and customer satisfaction. A rescue is like a good friend does he takes unwanted abused sickly dieing animals for free or on rare occaision for a few bucks with other pet supplies along with the animal then turns it in no time at all (in 99% of cases), into an animal the former owner doesnt even recognize at all (usually in a few weeks).

Arizona reptile shows are the worst. I can probably guess
which dealer you bought it from. The last one in Tucson
made me want to never attend one again. I did pick up a
mint condition Natural History of Monitor Lizards signed
by the author H. F. De Lisle. So it wasn't a total waste
of time, but I saw alot of things that made me just sick.
Neal
-----
pale reason hides the infinite from us

yeah I agree, I dont think I will go to a herp show in arizona, I would probably spend the money to go to a so-cal show. And you are probably right, about guessing which dealer it was if you want to know for sure email me at axanthicluv@hotmail.com. But I did buy a very nice arg black and white tegu at the tuscon show, and he is very healthy and no mites. Also he is from the same well known shop.

thanks
Tony Butler