Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Does anyone out there keep and/or breed Dumeril's? I'm looking for any info I can gather on these guys. I'm not new to reptiles (I currently have 1 Columbian b/w Tegu - 8 years, 2 Argentine b/w Tegus - 3 years, 1 Red Tail Boa - 12 years) All raised from babies. But I am new to Monitors. I've been looking at them for years, I just cant decide which one I want (wish I had room for a pair of each). The Dumeril's seem like a good medium sized Monitor to start with. I'm going to the I.R.B.A. show in San Diego on July 12th (I plan to bring something home with me.

Thanks in advance, and sorry for the long post.
Ken

Dums are great. I currently have one female, and am obtaining a male soon, and yes I have had a lot of past dumeril exprience. They are semi-arboreal but seem to like to dig more. They will use a larger cage than what you think. They are easy to feed (i feed my adults adult mice). They are also fairly calm. You probably can't go with a better choice.

Cheers, Andrew
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Varanus Creations

They are my favorite monitor. For the most part they are not that aggresive (1 out of 50 or so) towards people. They are active swimmers, climbers,burrowers,& eaters(in spurts ,this also varies among individuals ) when they are healthy. I have a current male but have had others in the past. The one thing I can say is they demand humidity more then any other monitor I've seen incld. indicus,& salvators. Make sure you get one that is tongue flicking & preferably looking around actively when you observe it. You know to look at the tail base to make sure it has fat reserves. I would suggest getting @ least 2 reading sources for your library.

Dumeril's are not always friendly.
Males can exceed 4.5' total length.
Captive bred dumeril's are rarely available.
Good Luck

do you guys have any pics of your dumeril's cages?

from Alex

This is actually a picture of the Dume Andrew now has. She is so awesome. I saw her here in Sac and called him and told him to buy her. Hopefully he can find a male as hot looking as she is to make some babies. She has a great temperment.
Enjoy

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Christine :>~

Nice color, thanks for the pic.

Thank you everyone for your input. You guys are making my decision easier. Would an enclosure 6'w x 6'h x 2.5'd be large enough for an adult? (I know nothing is ever large enough), but would this size be unfair to the animal?

I'm sure that Andrew and Richard will have differing opinions that agree with mine

certainly, the more space the merrier. 7 or 8 or more longer is better than 6. 3.5 or more deep is better. height.... how high off the ground will the cage floor be? this is where we'll differ- Dirt substrate is preferable,not always practical- at least not in the quantities needed for a good burrow. I built my cages with pools with drains,which requre elevating the cage to allow a bucket underneath, or for a permanent connection wired into your plumbing, enough to gravity feed in. My latest cage(for Argus) is 8x3.5x4,which would be a good size for Dumerils. a possible arrangement might be a trough - 4x2x2 with dirt,under the cage, with a hole cut through for access. if you live in an apartment, landlord might not be impressed with your collapsing the floor below from a ton of dirt...
I bred a 3.2 group which produced 150 babies,without a dirt substrate,although I did have rubbermaid tubs with dirt for laying. pyschologically, i'd expect dirt is best, just not always the most practical. OK, guys, go to it......