Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I have 2 Dumeril's which I hardly ever get to observe, they are always hiding. I know most monitors are secretive by nature, but would any of these other species allow me to observe them more?

Thanks for the help.
Paul Kemes

I can't speak for Mangroves or bluetails but I have a few peachies. They all seem to start out timid and gradually you see more of them as they grow. I have one that is an adult that i raised from a very small juvie and it doesn't mind being around me as long as i don't try to touch it. I also have two that were adults when got them and they act much more timid. I haven't had them long enough for me to expect them to be that comfortable with me. I don't know if that helps or not but either way good luck

Steve

I understand completely. The better the hide box I build the less I see my pair of dumies. From what I understand blue tails need quite a bit of room due to thier activity, but I don't know that for fact.

I have had one of each, not nearly enough monitors to make any solid arguments on their behalf, but I can tell you what I noticed from mine. They are all three about the same. They are naturally alert and don't like to be picked up or restrained. The bluetail Snort was suppose to be a girlfriend for Scooter, but turned out to be male and grew incredibly fast. We traded him for a peachthroat Flora also with Scooter in mind. There was such a size difference that we felt it best to keep them apart. Flora died suddenly of toxic shock syndrome. Necropsy revealed fairly big fat pads, a slightly oversized liver, and very empty stomach and intestines. The vet couldn't be sure why she came down with it. We had been on vacation previously and had someone caring for all the animals while we were away. He wound up feeding all my breeding mice to the peachthroat instead of feeders, She had thrown up a lot of dead mice in her enclosure All three preferred their food in small pieces. The bluetail had enormous teeth, the peaches were long and narrow, the mangroves are pictured. All three were serrated and recurved.

They were very similar, liked to swim A LOT, lots of climbing, exploring. The mangrove is shy, but has always been very willing to sit an inch away from me as long as I'm not touching him. The peachthroat was fearless and would jump all over me, but freaked if you tried to restrain her. The bluetail was ok as long as he approached (and climbed on) me and not me approaching him…lol All three monitors have very long tails, making them harder to house in my opinion than some of the other breeds, they really need enough room to get comfy and stretch all the way out. If I HAVE to pick them up I use a towel. They feel safer if they are not directly in your hands and they also feel much better having something to grip in to. They are all lightning fast and have long necks. If one of these three wanted a taste of you there is not much you can do about it. My monitors were in the main room of my house. We live quietly. They always saw us around doing other things. They adjusted to our routine.

I would suggest picking up a good book and getting comfortable near the cage. Try and make it the same time everyday. You can even sit with your back to the cage at first, to make them feel safer. Remember, don’t look! Especially if you are facing away. Even if you hear them…. Don’t look. Hopefully they will get used to you. I bask with my lizards frequently, Well, they bask and I read (after using 30 sunscreen) They think I’m basking though, they sometimes climb on me to get a better sun angle.

Anyways, goodluck!

Cool post. I was kinda interested in the differences in those 3 myself. I always thought the bluetails would make outstanding display animals, they are really great looking monitors. Is it true what the books say about 3.5 ft in length? You said yours grew really fast.

Howdy,
The bluetail was about 3 ¼ feet when we got it, I was told it was about 2 years old. Remember, a lot of that is tail. He grew to 5 feet in 6 months, and tripled in girth on a diet of mice, fish, crayfish, eggs, chicks, rat pups, bugs and supplements. He had a very long body, I suspected he was not finished growing. We didn’t have room for another large monitor that would not get along with the one we already had, so we thought we would try again for a female and traded him for a baby peach. There are a lot of variables to consider as far as growth and maximum size go. The same goes for individual personalities. I believe that all three of those types are shy and secretive (just my opinion). We very rarely force our monitors to do something, we always try to figure out a way to get the monitor to do what we want it to do by itself. Sometimes it takes a long time to get the desired results, but I have a lot of patience. We have a very strong trust relationship with our animals and allow them to get to know us at their own pace. We trust them from the beginning to approach us and check us out without taking a bite, so far this has worked for us. I don’t recommend everyone do this because again, monitors are individuals and there is always a risk of being bitten. I believe the bluetail was on his way to 6 feet, but again, just an opinion. He was temperamental, but never hurt anyone. He would just coil his tail and give me that “I’m not in the mood for company” look. Sounds to me like ackies are the most fun, easy to work with and handle, and can live in an awesome roomy enclosure that would be a closet to what is considered a mid sized monitor.

Snorter was a bit bigger than this old pic of Scooter the mangrove when he left us. Basking together is a favorite pastime for both of us…..

Appreciate the info on the blue tail. I'm a little surprised it got that long that quick. But that would be good news for me if I decide to get one. Thanks Dan

How the heck did you get those teeth?
Frank said a long time ago that monitors shed their teeth, but in three years, I have not been able to collect one. Darn! I want one for my scrapbook. Darn, I really want a tooth!
Where did you find them? Were they knocked out by playing with him? I got one of my dog's puppy teeth that way, he was chasing my scarf, and a tooth fell on the ground...

I've kept every molt from my spiders, pieces of skin from the lizards and snakes, I have one of my first dog's whiskers in a photo album, and I have all sorts of nice feathers from my birds.
There is cat hair everywhere now, but I really don't want it!

Gosh, I neeeed a monitor tooth...

LOL.
D.

lol, Nice to see another girly, the testosterone gets really thick here sometimes

Well, you really have to REALLY SEARCH if you want teeth, especially if you have deep dirt substrate, you may never find them. Scooters are very white and stand out after they have dried, before they are dry they look translucent. I have also found quite a few of them in the water, but he is a water type monitor so that makes sense. Sometimes he looses them while eating. You have a sav right? They have different teeth than a fishing monitor. I haven’t seen a sav’s teeth so I can’t tell you exactly what to look for. I do know they are more blunt from what others have said. There was a couple years in there when we were in an apartment and I used to step on them once in a while… OW!!! His enclosure was too small so we just left the door open and he lived in the main rooms (not the bedrooms) as well as using his enclosure. When he yawns if I look hard I can see the very tips of the teeth. (they are clear and look like flecks of glass) I can get a good look at them when he is biting down on snails or crayfish, his jaw pressure pushes them out of the gums and into the prey. I can see when the teeth are getting ready to fall out, one tip will stick wayyy out of the gum line and not retract. Snaggletooth! I have also watched him swallow them…. (noooooo! I want that!) You can always excavate poop for those but I don’t ..lol. Once while my BF and I were walking he had to remove a “pebble” from inside his shoe which turned out to be a tooth. I suppose anything that is interested in roadkill might like the smell of sweaty shoes. I have had Scooter 10 years, and I think I may have a collection of 60 or 70 teeth. I’m sure lots of them were overlooked. I haven’t found very many since we moved 2 years ago, maybe he is loosing less with age? I don’t know.

Anyways, Goodluck and nice to meet ya!
-H-

Here he is waiting for food to drop into his mouth, the teeth really aren’t visible due to the camera glare.

The teeth are translucent when first shed. Then white when dry...
I will be picking through any whiteness I see in the bottom of the cages, forever now.
Thanks for the new hobby!

I have rudicollis, they have sharp conical teeth. Though not as long as your mangrove's appear to be. I thought for SURE I'd get one when my female latched onto my glove last week. She tugged and tugged, thinking it was some food. When she finally tried to release, her teeth were stuck, and she had to give a little shake to let go. Maybe there was a tooth then, but being translucent, I missed it.

I'm going to entice them all to bite my gloves to see if I can get a tooth! hahaha, my poor monitors are in for it now!

I think I am the same Dragoon as when you were last posting. I do remember you from three years ago, and there have been no others with this name that I know of. I just had not directly replied to you before. Nice to meet you!
D.