Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I have a pair of salvadorii that I just obtained about 3wks- a month ago.

I have them in a 7' tall x 3' deep' x 8' wide enclosure, that is divided into 2 sections with a small door inbetween that can be closed to seperate them. There are shelves for basking, and the floor is false with 2 feet of substrate for burrowing, and a hole to access the substrate within the floor.

Humidity is roughly 70%, but fluctuates from 45-80%. I hope to put together an automatic misting system w/ humidity gage to maintain humidity levels this weekend.
My basking temps are at 145 on the high end, with a series of shelves at different levels for many options. The coolest corners of the cage are about 75 degrees f.
I have 2 water basins on each side for drinking/ soaking. Lights are on 24/7.

I guess that about it for husandry info?

This a 4 year old pair, produced by Danny Gorman, at D&J Reptiles. They have been housed together since they hatched, and have produced fertiles eggs.

My concern is that the female IS NOT EATING! Im perplexed. The male is a pig. No worries there. But the female is just not havin it. I ve just offered f/t mice. I even tried rolling them in egg/ cat food. She didnt even look at them. =(

Heres a letter I wrote to the former owner about the situation...

"When you have some time, I was wondering if you could offer some advise with the crocs.

Both monitors seem to be more comfortable in their new environment, and come out often to bask. The female JUST started coming out this week and doesnt bolt anymore when she sees me. The male adjusted to my presence alot quicker. Tonight they were on top of eachother on one of the shelves.

I had some q's about the female not feeding. The male seems to be adjusting readily, and eats like a pig. The female however hasnt shown interest in the f/t mice that Ive been offering. I even rolled them in cat food and egg to entice her. Unfortunately, she showed no interest and after a while, after the male realized there was food in the other part of the enclosure where the female was, he promptly devoured everything I had out for the female. =(

I dont know if i should put a divider up so they are seperated for feeding, or if I should try something other then f/t mice for her?

Thanks ahead of time for any suggestions. =)"

I have never seen a croc turn down a meal before. Even when I imported mine from Herpafauna as babies, they all ate the as soon as they were out of the crate with no problems.

I would also ask for some sort of proof of their origin. I have Captive Bred CITES for all of mine, but if they were not imported directly by you or who you got them from, then they should have a reciept from DnJ.

I would give it a couple days, and if still nothing, I would think a vet visit would be needed. Just some things to concider.

-Jeff

That would be quite "interesting" bringing her to a vet. Lol. These are not even touchable critters. It would make for a rather eventful afternoon to say the least.
The former owner is a very notable person in the industry, and i verified from danny that he did infact buy them as hatchlings 4 years ago. He just has never touched them. He has thousands of herps, so he doesnt have time to interact with most of em.

It was reccomened by a fellow varanaphile to just seperate them, and work on earning the femals trust. She is in no way starving, as she has good body tone and fat stores. I guess she just doenst like me yet. =(

Well see...

first day in cage... exploring a bit.

Ya definitely seperate them when feeding. The female is probaly real stressed out. You just have to give her time. If it doesnt get better, than Id say take it to a vet. But for now, seperate them when feeding. Leave some food for the female in her cage and walk away and check back in an hour or so. She could just be food shy.

Theyve been housed together for the last four years(since they were hatchlings), and had never been relocated since the first transfer of ownership as babies.
I suspect that the male is making his dominance known in their new environment. Im glad I sepperated them now, instead of after he decides to really assert himself.

I should have been more keen to their language. She's been hidden, and hes been out most of the time... duh.

Sigh... stupid humans. Haha

So, we'll see in the next couple days how she comes around in her own space. Lets see if we can get her confidence up.

I can give a bit of feedback based on my experience with my own 3 crocs. First, I don't find them aggressive feeders at all. Even if they have not eaten for some time. They look pretty good from the pic, though a tiny bit on the lean side for 4 years old. They also do not look very big at all. If they have been housed together from youngsters, they should not be stressing eachother out. And there should not be any reason to seperate them. For two 4-year old crocs your cage size is not very big. Anyway good luck with them and hope you enjoy them.

Ya I was going to say that those cage sizes you have seem way to small. And It doesnt matter if they've been housed together. There in a new enviroment, new territory, and the male is being the dominant one. I would say just seperate them for the next week or so and try to get the female back up to wieght and heavily feeding before you reintroduce them.

They are a bit small for their age. Theyve been kept by a reptile dealer for their entire lives, and I presume that they were purposely kept small to avoid having to create a very sizable habitat. This is a common practice among zoos, and dealers.

Im waiting on a property purchase to be finalized before they are introduced into their permenant enclosure. This smaller enclosure will actually be able to fit INSIDE the permenant one, so perhaps that will give you an indication of planned size.

The only difficulty with such an enclosure is the regulating of temps, humidity, etc. Size of enclosure is not as important as USABLE SAPCE within said cage. This is one the the most interesting subjects in my opinion when we're discussing reptile husbandry. You can offer a 20x20' room, but how much of this space is actually being utilized?? These kinds of cages take MUCH thought, and engineering to pull off correctly. This is my next hurdle.