Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I just got a blue tail monitor that came from a really really rough past.quick history was attacked by a dog, not fed and scars all over body from heat lamps. anyways i know nothing about lizards i breed boas so any and all help would be greatly appreciated. Some questions i have....how do you tell if its a male or female,what to feed it and how many times,and best bedding to use plus temps.i can look up info all day but i would rather ask the experts. thanks for all help

Chris

You've got a serious problem there. They are nothing like snakes.

They need a hot spot around 120-130F, that covers the whole SVL.

A non ventilated cage, deep substrate (like 2 feet), privacy.

I don't keep V.doreanus but, I do keep V.jobiensis which is similar in requirements. You will need to make sure you minimize any venting and keep the lights inside the cage. Temps should be a base ambient of 75-80 with a basking spot of ~130f measured on the basking surface. Make absolutely sure that the basking spot is as large as the animal's SVL or you will see more burns. Blue tails are prone to burns so be very careful to keep tabs on the basking spot to ensure it is even and don't let the ambients drop too low. The basking spot is best setup with a bank of light bulbs in a row rather than by using one large watt bulb. A large monitor like a V.doreanus may need 3-4 fixtures to create a proper basking site.

Diet should be whole prey items. I feed my V.jobiensis mostly mice and some crayfish. The best substrate is soil covered with leaf litter. I have an ash tree in my yard an each fall I dump bags of leaves into my cage to top off the depth. I shoot for 18" of soil and leaves. Cork hollows make good furniture. I use them as the basking area so that they can bask inside the cork hollow in addition to the hotter temp on top of the cor branch. A large water proof enclosure that as mentioned has absolute minimal venting is best. I would recomend at least 4x8x8 for V.doreanus. Males can get huge. Sexing is easy with a mature animal and a guess at best till then. At this point it sounds like that is the least of you worries but if you post a picture folks might take a guess.

That should get you started.
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Steve

Thanks so much for the info im building him or her a custom cage right now should be done within the week because what i have him now is only 4x2x2 i know its small but all i had that could give him the heat he needs. i have been reading all over the internet for info but like i said all of you on here can tell me way better info.and yes they are completely different then my boas and i know that im always willing to learn new things and will always help a rescued animal no matter what. i have pics of him all over my facebook chris janickie i just got the face book a couple of weeks ago so im still learning that to. if anyone wants to see him, and your all more then welcome to check him out. Thanks again for the info i love kingsnake!!

Chris