Reptile & Amphibian Forums

just thought id say I upgraded my Argus's cage, took out the care fresh and added atleast a foot of dirt. I plan to add more dirt soon and also added another spot for him to lay. will post pics soon if anyones interested. this fall/winter I plan on doubling his entire cage since he grew faster than I thought. his cage is only 5x3x3 so I usually just leave his cage open since I just vinyled the floor for easier clean up. I am rambling now so any advice on things I should include when I rebuild his cage thanks.

Post lots of pictures!
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Regards,
Wayne A. Harvey
Thamnophis US
Savannah Monitors
Snakes and Lizards, It don't get any better....

will do! give me some time it's a big pain to do from my phone

what are the dimensions? and how deep is your substrate?
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Regards,
Wayne A. Harvey
Thamnophis US
Savannah Monitors
Snakes and Lizards, It don't get any better....

only 5x3x3 but I plan on doubling that very soon, substrate is about a foot and half but my guy is spoiled his cage is always open so he has a whole room that is his now at least till I expand his cage.

I "spoiled" my last monitor to death.

Meaning this, unless your house mimics Australia, it's not doing any justice to let him out so much.

I used to let my last monitor out constantly, people [bleep]ed at me and I ignored them, then after five years of this practice he passed away.

I would never take mine out now for any more than an hour or two a week.
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Regards,
Wayne A. Harvey
Thamnophis US
Savannah Monitors
Snakes and Lizards, It don't get any better....

it's just temporary the room has been suited to his needs for now and there is nothing in there that can hurt him

Hi Wayne.

There are always many factors at play. One is, who is suppose to benefit from allowing monitors out, or taking them on walks? Most say, its for the monitor, but in reality, its based on the keepers need/s.

Also, Argus are not from OZ. They are indo.

As you now understand, that conditions that support monitors is very specialized and not really available in a normal house. Or even on walks.(in most cases)

So if you have a supportive cage, any time the monitor is taken out, it actually takes away from the animal, not adds. THis is an important concept, and should be considered.

And yes of course it an be done without harm, IF the keeper knows what they are doing. But in most cases, the keeper is naive to what effect they are really having. OR they wouldn't do it.

Have a great day

Um, OK????

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Regards,
Wayne A. Harvey
Thamnophis US
Savannah Monitors
Snakes and Lizards, It don't get any better....

Varanus panoptes horni are the only ones sold in the pet trade??

Don't mind me, I am just hungry for knowledge.
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Regards,
Wayne A. Harvey
Thamnophis US
Savannah Monitors
Snakes and Lizards, It don't get any better....

Hi Wayne, you said,Meaning this, unless your house mimics Australia, it's not doing any justice to let him out so much.

V.p.horni are from indo and your right, they are THE pet trade Argus.

I have been lucky enough to observe many many many V.p.panoptes and V.p.rudibus, in the field, as well as some inbetweeners or oddballs, hahahahahahaha

Cheers

I know what I said.

I guess the proper statement should be "unless your house mimics the natural environment of your lizard"

That would cover all of them.

What people fail to get is that respiration of air that does not match the environment the species evolved over millenia to breath, it will ultimately lead to medical problems later on down the road.

I had to learn that the hard way, and a lizard died.

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Regards,
Wayne A. Harvey
Thamnophis US
Savannah Monitors
Snakes and Lizards, It don't get any better....

my lizard stays inside. I think walking a monitor on a leash is wrong his room is never under 80 and has multiple heat spots up to 140

I will only say this one more time, and I promise to leave you alone after this, after all.. it's your lizard, not mine.

The animal is breathing less than ideal air.

I will explain.. Please read carefully.

Since reptiles do not have pores, they do not sweat, since they pass Urates as a solid white chalky clump, they do not urinate.

So how exactly does this slow dehydration take place?

By breathing dry air, that's how.

To put it in perspective, when we breath outside in the winter, we draw in dry winter air, and when we exhale, you can see your breath, this is because our lungs transfer water molecules to the dry air and we exhale moist air forming condensation, hence the "cloud" we see when we breath.

This same exact principal applies to Squamates (snakes and lizards). when we take an animal that has evolved over millions of years to breath damp tropical air and place it in a box that has low humidity, each and every breath the animal takes will release precious moisture into the air. Now since reptiles breath very slowly and each of those slow breaths only release minuscule amounts of body water, the process takes many months, sometimes years to bring the internal dehydration to critical levels.

This process in turn stresses the kidneys and liver eventually causing them to fail altogether, then the uric acid levels in the blood begin to rapidly escalate leading to Gout. By the time the symptoms of gout manifest and become visible, it's entirely too late to reverse it. (in virtually all cases, maybe with an odd exception)

This is where burrows come into play as a method of water conservation. If you have ever been in a dank basement you can feel the humidity in the air, it's thick. This is why the air in mines and deep basements is so heavy, suspended water molecules in the air add weight to it.

During the hottest parts of the day, droughts and dry seasons, Monitor lizards will retreat to the burrows, shady areas, hollow logs or swamps and not come back out until the conditions are more favorable.

When we keep them in boxes (Or roaming in rooms) that do not have correct humidity levels and also do not provide enough soil substrate for the animal to dig a burrow and retreat, they begin drying out slowly through respiration. (Technical term for breathing)

Misting a poorly set up cage will not prevent this, soaking the lizard in a bath tub will not prevent this, big water bowls do not prevent this, only correct humidity and offering the opportunity to burrow will prevent this. Proper caging is paramount to your lizard's heath, this cannot be stressed enough.

In conclusion, this is why keeping any monitor in conditions that do not support it's basic physiology needs will ultimately lead to failure.

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Regards,
Wayne A. Harvey
Thamnophis US
Savannah Monitors
Snakes and Lizards, It don't get any better....

that's something I will need to address than, thanks.

Excellent explination. Thanks

They also lose moisture thru their skin, there are various pores in each scale
The main concern is what you explained

As an EX high school and college wrestler, we planned on losing 3 pounds the night before weightins. just from breathing. Cheers

Hello,

Wayne, very well put... Please do not say that for the last time, rather, save and re-post that over and again to all the new keepers that don't get it. That post alone will curb some of the damage short term and hopefully some will grasp and use the knowledge before they lose the lizards right off. Again, good post. Best to You- Mike S

I made up a web page, and included a side bar about my own experience with Chomper.

http://www.savannahmonitor.net/gout/

With a little rewording it will also go on varanus.us & varanid.us.

Writing another page right now about building trust and "hands off" for people who think varanids are lap dogs.
dehydration and gout page

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Regards,
Wayne A. Harvey
Thamnophis US
Savannah Monitors
Snakes and Lizards, It don't get any better....