Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I bought this mangrove monitor back in June this year. I have been feeding him mealies worms, crickets (when he will eat them), and pinkie mice. Once a week I dust the pinkies with reptocal. He is currently in a 29 gallon aquarium with about 4-5 inches of soil, basking spot at about 115 degrees and the other parts of the aquarium range between 85-95 degrees (thats when the basking light is on.)

I have heard that monitors grow quickly when they are young. It doesn't seem like mine is growing to fast. I hope I am taking care of him properly. These 2 pics are of him in the same bucket. The first pic was taken on 06-07-04 and the second pic was taken on 10-09-04 (today). Does his growth rate seem about right?

Also I usually feed him one pinkie every day. Is this too little? When I give him 2 pinkies he sometimes doesn't eat the second one. I want to try to give him geckos that run around my house but someone told me that they harbor parasites which could infect my monitor.

Thanks.

Here's the second pic. Taken today 10-09-04

That really doesn't seem like much growth. I am not trying to be rude, but I don't understand what you are trying to point out. Where did you learn about monitor husbandry?

andrew

Let me try again:

I was wondering if the growth rate of my monitor was normal. I put all of the other information in the post so you guys could know what my monitor's enclosure is like and what I feed him.

I also was wondering what is a good amount to feed him at this age. I am currently feeding him 1 pinkie a day. I tried giving him 2 pinkies a day but he rarely ever ate the second one. Thats why I stuck with only one. Is one pinkie too little or is it a good amount?

I learned about monitor husbandry from doing searches on this site and asking a few questions on the forum on varanus.net Why do you ask? Am I doing anything wrong? Or is the description of my setup ok?

Thanks again.

I would honestly need to know more about the setup to determine what is going on. For the size of the guy the cage is fine. It is kind of like saltwater aquariums though the bigger the tank (enclosure) the easier it is to provide husbandry. That is, the temp gradients are easier to come by, it is easier to provide areas that are dry and damp, etc. Also, the monitor may be stressed in a small enclosure.

If it is refusing a pinkie everyday, try three every few days or something to that degree. Sometimes monitors are finicky, you have to put them on the schedule they want to be on, but just make sure it isn't an effect of your husbandry.

I also have no idea what you meant by soil. Is that like top soil from fred meyers with perilite mixed into bark mulch? Or is it dirt from your backyard with high clay contents? With the indos I have had in the past I have used leaf mulch.

So, perhaps consider those things and hopefully some people who know more than I do about indos will jump in.

andrew

The growth rate is a bit slow, but not everyone will grow the same so who is to say what normal is for your little one.

Unless you have concerns of health i wouldn't worry.

I take it your overseas? If so you can use the soil from your yard, mixed with leaf litter. They really like to burrow down under the leaves at that age.

I would also try to feed him more, if he is not taking more then try upping the basking area to 130. My mangroves don't seem to like the basking area any hotter then that. Be sure the humidty level is kept on the high end try 80-90%. They like to swim so a good size tub for soaking is a great idea.

I wouldn't worry about dusting your pinkies, but you should dust any and all insects. You can also feed fish, mangroves really like them.

You may also want to place him into a larger cage, the bigger the cage the faster they will try and fill it. As in faster growth.

I tend to agree with everything JPshadow mentioned. The growth does seem a bit slow, but I wouldn't worry too much.

If I were you I'd give it plenty of privacy. Cover the sides of the aquarium with something opaque, and don't let the monitor see you hovering over it too much.

It wouldn't hurt to raise the basking temp a bit, to 120-125 F. Keep the humidity high and provide as large a water dish as possible. Leaf litter would be great, I would probably use it myself, for my melinus, if I was aware of a source.

To help increase it's appetite I would feed less often and offer more variety. Like JP said, they like fish. I feed my melinus shrimp quite often. I'm not faminliar with reptocal, maybe you meant Rep-Cal, if so, you might want to occasionally use a multi vitamin supplement in addition to the Rep-Cal. I use Nekton Rep, but I'm sure other brands will work fine. If roaches are an option for you, I highly recommend them over crix and meal worms.

You should definetely be planning on providing a larger enclosure in the near future.

I hope that is helpful.
Neal
-----
pale reason hides the infinite from us

Hi,
Nice looking animal. I think you are feeding him/her too little, and wrong foods...try FRESH fish/shellfish, i.e. whole-fish (silverfish, sardines, etc), crab, shrimps, chopped prawns, pinky mice, and alike foods....these are an aquatic high humidity tolerant animals, and in some places in the Pacific grow beyond 6 feet.

It should have clean water available to it all the time, hide spots in logs, underground etc available. To keep the heat and humiidty in your terraria, place some newspaper/construction paper/similar thick paper-barrier on 3 sides of their tank, and perhaps 60% of the front, and cover the screen top if there is one with a piece of wood with hole drilled out for lamp, or lamp attached to bottom side of top....this will keep the heat and humidity in, and increase metabolism of your animal.

There are those people who say about lizards in general that if they do not reach a certain levels of calcium within the first 6 months of life, they will be a runt their entire lives - I am not sure if this is so for Varanus, but I always feed them as if it were...

Off course with such soft (smelly) foods going in your lizards mouth, you can expect it to come out with more bouque and fraigrance!

good luck,
mbayless