Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Hi,
Its been a while since I have been on here....my monitor is doing great....growing well and eating well....right now it is mainly eating FT small mice/hoppers aggressively ...I want to expand its menu items and would like some ideas...
Thanks in advance!
Bryan in Va.

I've kept and bred Dumerilii for over 19 years, bred to F5, have eggs in the incubator now. I feed almost exclusively shellfish, head on shrimp, head on prawn, crab and crawfish. I've found that a strictly rodent diet is detrimental to this species and recommend using rodents sparingly for dumerilii. mealworms and roaches are also offered on occasion along with uncooked quail eggs, though these items are mostly offered to gravid females. You can find shellfish at your local asian market or order crawfish from LA, you will find them to be cheaper and easier to deal with than rodents.

Guess I screwed up the pic link.
maybe this works?

Are the shellfish you speak of raw uncooked?
What about hard boiled eggs?
Thanks for the input and would love to see some pics also....
Bryan

Why would you cook monitor food? What benefit could possibly come from that?
Hard boiled egg? huh? If you want to feed eggs, do so sparingly and feed whole, uncooked eggs of a size they can swallow whole.
Feel whole food items, uncooked.

Best of luck with your beastie.
Ben Aller

Thanks....Thats exactly why I am here asking questions....RAW it is.....the hard boiled egg thing was just a question....the superworm and roaches you spoke of ...is that for adults?
Also..where do you find large roaches?
Thanks again and NICE pics!!!!!!
Bryan

No problem, didn't mean to come off as snide.
I feed worms and roaches to juvies and gravid adult females, adults are less likely to take worms or roaches, but when a female is gravid they often prefer smaller easier to manipulate food items.
I'm sure there are multiple on-line or local sources for bugs,I got the last batch of roaches at the Sacramento reptile show and just set them up to breed, easy enough.

Nice job with the Dumerils!

Pretty cool cage!
How big is it? You keep 1.1 per cage?

Thanks Bruno(right?) the enclosure is 8'(L)x 8'(W)x 7" tall. with just under 3' of substrate. There is a section of the substrate that is heated from below.I keep 1.1 in there, yes. It's o.k sized but I would prefer 12x12 footprint, would allow for larger nesting options and ability to have a spraint station further away from their burrows/hides.It's just one more in a line of enclosures that's constantly being reworked, but that's the way the monkey bounces I guess.

Hello tectovaranus,

Thats a really really nice set up you have there,
can you explain how you go about heating the substrate up from below? Ive yet to figure that one out.

All my heat mats, say they cannot be covered with any type of foreign material, due to a fire risk.
thanks Bob

Hi Gigantor,
I make a fiberglass "envelope" to hold my heat mats, that way they are not in direct contact with the substrate and can be checked on easily. I've tried a bunch of different ways but have found this to be the best solution so far. If you make them right they can hold hundreds of lbs of weight. I'll try and get some pictures up.
Best.

I love the looks of the cage and was wondering if you could post some pics of the exterior of the cage?
Bryan

I'll try and shoot some this weekend if I have time.
Thanks.

Thanks a bunch!
look forward to seeing them.....
Bryan.

Yo, Aller. I don't think I've ever seen you or your dumerilii around the net before. They're very pretty. It's nice to see someone working with them, and having some semblance of success with their reproduction.

What strikes me is the very long, whip-like tails on yours. Of course most monitors have those long, whip-like tails, but yours particularly strike me. I wonder; what are you using for basking temps?

Yo varanusarus, I've never heard of you either, what species have you had a "semblance" of reproductive success with?
I'd like to think that 19 years and hundreds of hatchlings of 5 generations with this species is just a step above a semblance of success, but I'll admit I still have a lot to learn and a long way to go.

I've had as many as 14 adult dumerils in my care at one time and can tell you those tail lengths are average. I'm not sure if basking temps have anything to do with tail length

I offer basking temps of about 120F, I used to offer 150F+ but this species never basks at those temps, 110 is about the most they'll bask at if very gravid or having a large food bolus. Mostly they hang around at 90F and will bask for short periods at 110, so I offer just above what they need. I offer my beccarii and olivaceus 140+ as they use it.
Best.

Heh. I didn't mean that as a sleight. I meant that even just the appearance of some reproductive success with a species like Dumeril's is cool to see, mostly because it's so rarely seen. I didn't mean for you to get all up in arms. It's not like I'm the authority on monitor keeping. I have hatched argus and both ackies since I got into monitors about two years ago, though, and I'm comfortable considering that a good start.

About the tails... Obviously basking temps don't effect how long or short tails grow. What I meant, however, is that the tails seem super skinny to me. They seem skinny in that there isn't much to speak of for a fatty tail base, and less beyond that. Like I said, it just strikes me. Even healthy tree monitors develop some weight in their tails, so maybe it's something specific to dumerilii.

I don't know. It's why I asked. Low basking temps always result in a fat-bodied monitor with underweight limbs. Again, not saying your care sucks, but yours definitely have big bellies in comparison. It made me curious.

Oh, and frugivorous monitors are lame. Just sayin'.

J/K, bra.

No problem, wasn't "up in arms", just havin' a little fun.
You must be confused by the pics, their tails are certainly not skinny. The female is gravid in those pics and I just fed them their fill of shrimp. A good whack from that male's tail would split a tree monitor in two.
Congrats on the argus and ackies, that's a great start, way to go.
Actually frugivorous monitors are lame, at least in private hands, mine are rescues and hopefully will go to a viable breeding program, otherwise it's just sad to have them.

Best.

They really are beautiful lizards. lol I just say "lame" because I kinda personify them as the quirky, vegan cousins of Varanus.

I don't think it's so sad that you have them, though. They've been stolen from their natural homes, purportedly through the pet trade, and likely destined for failure. At least with you they will have a shot at life events.

Hmm. It's actually really interesting, now that I'm thinking about it. What an opportunity for you. How has your care, your time with them, differed from the other varanids?

Hi,
So far the only prawn and crawdads I have found both contain minor amounts of sodium and some sort of preservative....do you encounter that also?
Bryan

Nope,
Just so happens that I was walking out to my freezer when I read this, looked at 5 different types of shrimp/crab that I purchased recently, nothin' but shrimp.

Thanks....I will have to go to another grocer/asian mart and see whats up.
Bryan

Those are gorgeous dumerilii!! Congratulations on such great success and all the hard work to achieve that success!!

In response to the comments about the seemingly skinny tails and heavy bellies, I don't see that at all! I see a pair of outstanding Varanus dumerilii in top shape! Keep up the great work and hopefully you'll post some pics when your babies hatch!! How much longer until hatch date?
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Charles Koutris