Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I just got one of these and he is about... 8 inches in body length... Not quite sure how old he is.
Just wondering what types of food that I can feed him, and how do you keep them from thinking your food because i dont want him to bite me.

Ive been feeding him crickets but i dont know how healthy that is.
and thats all he will eat because he doesnt eat the fish out of his 10 gallon tank.

please help,
-Nate

hello,
at that size i would feed him crickets and waxworm at that small i do not feed superworms or mealworm but that is just me. having a nile you are going to get bite i a have a 6 foot nile that is just as calm as she can be and she dose not look at my body parts as food. just do hand feed i use tongs.
i hope this helps some

Lol, this post was for my girlfriend.
She keeps him in a huge looking bird cage with a 10 gallon tank filled with water in it.
Then feeds him in what looks to be a 20L tank with some red sand and other stuff...
He really tame suprisingly, just a little bit hyper.
Jumps a couple times every 30 mins out of your hands, and has only tried to bite here little sister (She doesnt really know how to handle animals and was probably squeezing him or something, and he didnt really try to bite her i dont think. She said that he just turned his head real fast towards her, but didnt open up his mouth.)

But im glad he's eating now cuz she had him for about 2 weeks with a buncha fish in the 10 gallon and he didnt touch a single one.

Thanks,
-Nate

P.S. know of anyway to try and keep him from jumping so much so he doesnt hurt himself???

Rob Faust wrote a very good book on how to keep a nile monitor as a pet. The book costs about $8 and any bookstore can get it for you. I strongly recommend you (or your girlfriend or whoever intends to keep the animal) get the book. I would also suggest getting it very soon.

You are going to need several cages over time as it grows to be anywhere from 4-7 feet. Nile monitors tend to bite; you simply need to accept that it will probably happen. If it really scares you, wear gloves. You can get welding gloves at a home improvement store (like Lowes, HomeDepot, Menards, Ace, etc.). Those gloves do not make you invincible against a large monitor, but they will buy you a few moments to get your hand out of glove before the teeth make it into your hand.

A baby nile is not likely to swim in a 10 gallon aquarium for fish. In fact, it is more likely to drown in a 10 gallon aquarium than eat the fish. If you want to feed it fish, get a small bowl and fill it with water so the monitor can stand in the water without having to float. Toss the fish in and it is more likely that he will eat the fish. A kitty litter pan works well for this purpose.

Based on your description, I am picturing a nile monitor in a bird cage. That setup is not likely to be very good for a nile monitor. You would probably be better off with a large aquarium.

Nile monitors do not like to be held, which is probably why it is jumping. Niles, in particular, tend to be a hands-off monitor. There are exceptions to this generality, but do not count on being one of the exceptions.
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^x^ Bloodbat ^x^
Monitors, monitors everywhere
and all the food they ate.
Monitors, monitors everywhere,
their parents loved to mate.

Well, the bird cage is about 3x3x4
And he is usually in the 10 gallon swimming around, climbing on the side of the cage or in the branches up high, on the heat rock, or between the 10 gallon and the wall.

At the pet store he was eating feeder fish out of about half a 10 gal looking thing. (I think our fish were 2 small, as the ones he was eating looked bigger.) We put a rock in one end of the 10 gallon so he can sit on it, and then a stick so he can climb out.

He usually wont jump when you have him in ur lap, or let him sit on your arm. (Or if you rub his belly/chin/Side)

lol... and im not scared of him, hes very docile IMO. But yeah i think hes very happy in his bird cage, and he'll probably stay in there untill his body gets to be about a foot long. We put some moisture retaining wood chips in there 2, so hopefully he likes that. (Cant remember what its called but you soak it in water and it gets larger and stays moist for a while.)

-Nate

I would be interested in seeing your setup. Could you post a picture of it?
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Ed

My g/f is gonna go take pics and they should be up tomarrow.

i am going to take a wild guess and say you haven't done a ton of research of proper setup and husbandry for your new terror : )

that can be remedied, lots of folks do it. check out the link below for our Nile Monitor FAQ at our site, and really think hard if a giant, mean, biting lizard is going to be the right choice for you.

carewise, check out our caresheet section, and read the Water Monitor caresheet, as well as the Water article i did for Reptiles Magazine (listed in the same section). i wouldn't approach a Nile monitor much differently from a Water monitor as far as husbandry goes.

check out our Monitor FAQ as well, there is lots of different info there.

get rid of the fish, and feed a proven, nutritious diet, feeder insects and rodents, period.

check out our available books, and #1 get the Savannah Monitor book by Bennett, it has the most up to date monitor husbandry info available in print, and you can absolutely learn from it and apply it to your monitor (or any monitor). #2 get the Nile monitor book by Rob Faust (also at our site), it covers a lot of Nile specific knowledge very well, and both books are affordable for every monitor keeper, and every monitor keeper should have both in their library : )

best of luck!
Pro Exotics Nile Monitor FAQ

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robyn@proexotics.com

Pro Exotics Reptiles

ARRRGGG Why would someone use gloves to hold there pet???
Thats like saying, oh let me get a dog so i can touch it with a pole. There's more to taking care of a pet than all of these "pro breeders" telling someone they need a certain substrate, or they have to have a 1,000 gallon tank filled with Sand from Egypt and a kiddy pool filled with water from the Nile.

GRRRRRRRR
And why do you call them "Terror's" ????
I guess you think of them as pet Raptor's or something :O
"The more dangerous the cooler!!!!"
-____- if im wrong, please inform me. Cuz mine is really docile.

Thanks!!!!
-Nate

your monitor is not tame or calm, by any stretch of the imagination. what he is-is frightened out of his mind and stressed beyond belief. living in a bird cage, eating goldfish and being continuously handled (by someone who writes with words like 'cuz') is, unfortunately doing irreparable damage to him. you need to listen to the experts, like robyn, if you want it to survive.

these pets are not novelties.

Nate,

I currently have numerous monitors that I keep at my home. I use gloves on all of them over 50cm and use them for any that I come across in the field. When they are 60cm or more, their claws will rip your skin open without even trying. Please do not cut the nails- they are not a cat and they need them for climbing, digging and dismembering prey. They are also not a dog, although there are many that try to turn them into dogs.

When it gets larger, you will find out why Robyn called it a terror. Many people that keep monitors do not keep Niles because of their nasty disposition.

A bird cage type of enclosure is the wrong type to keep it in. I live in the tropics and would never consider keeping one in that kind of enclosure. Robyn was trying to give you some sound advice and if you do not listen to someone that knows what they are talking about, you will find your V. niloticus ExPiReD soon.

Cheers,

Michael

We tell you what we tell you because we have been there and done that. We also see people who write almost the same type of things you write in your post every year. Most of those people come on here later on to tell us their monitor died for some unknown reason, or they come on here to ask us why it is so sick.

Someone else already explained why it is calm for you. Terrified, stressed monitors sit still. They tend to eat sporadically, if at all, as well.

You can listen to our advice and comments or you can go at it your way. Your way might work or it might not. Since most of us have tried or witnessed someone trying it that way before and have seen it fail miserably that is what we tell you. Best of luck though.
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^x^ Bloodbat ^x^
Monitors, monitors everywhere
and all the food they ate.
Monitors, monitors everywhere,
their parents loved to mate.

with your attitude and approach, the only thing you are going to accomplish is the slow, painful death of your Nile. that is f'ed up, and unfair to the poor animal. i can only hope you give it proper basking temps for a couple of days so it can gleam some energy and bite your pinky off, so that you can at least glimpse what it means to be a Nile monitor.

don't post "please help" again, because you obviously don't actually want it. i can give you what you want right here-

"you're doing great, you are the smartest keeper ever, keep it up, and don't change a thing!"

LOL.

(but you can still do the right thing)
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robyn@proexotics.com

Pro Exotics Reptiles