Feeding new baby monitor

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HpF_IEkuP5M

Not an adult and she is the most docile monitor out there when no food is involved. If you raise yours hand feeding then you will have a problem when it gets bigger. At the young age that yours is at it is critically important to keep the husbandry perfect. In the future you can have it out on occasion but right now it is not a great idea. It needs the humidity and heat provided inside its enclosure which is not available outside in the rest of your house. With an established older monitor it's not going to kill it to be out for a while but for a baby it very well might.

Thank you for the posts. He thinks its cute to feed it by hand now but won't be a good idea in the long run.

1.1 pastels, 1.0 lesser, 0.1 het blurry, 0.1 spider, 1.1 norm. 0.1 dinker,

Conditioning a monitor to feed from your hand(as well as teaching your son that its something ok to do) is a HUGE mistake! I hate to be the one to put it this way.. but it needs to be said for the sake of the lizard and your son.... as these creatures grow and, assuming proper husbandry, and mature they develop an astounding feeding drive that will not take the time to differentiate between proffered food items and the fingers/hand/arm/ face of the person proffering it...honest.
As was previously stated, limit any handling at this age. While it may seem like he is totally calm and at ease with your son, monitors shut down some in response to stress. Give it at least a month of acclimation before turning it into the latest lizard on his shoulder. And if you live in a cool climate, exposure to such temps can very well prove lethal, most often by slow respitory infection and resultant decline. If the sav is kept properly( ie access to high temp basking spots, good hide zones, as much food as it wants, daily, a thermocline from mid 70's to the basking spot of at least 150 in a cage big enough to support all this) its metabolism will tend to make it much more active thus less apt to be willing to just chill on a shoulder trying to get warm.
And yes monitors are amazingly intelligent reptiles. They learn. And given the chance will teach you things you never imagined. They can be great animals to keep in captivity given you provide for their somewhat more demanding needs. But PLEASE recrain from any future handfeeding. It usually ends up with someone getting bit then the lizard languishes in a cage because the person becomes afraid /indifferent to the lizard. Tragic all around.

Guy

Thanks for the advice. I think we have the husbandry down pretty good and the monitor is growing fast, we live in Ga. and this time of year its hot and humid.
He has slowed up on the handling and when he does feed it he just drops the crickets and puts super worms in a food bowl.
1.1 pastels, 1.0 lesser, 0.1 het blurry, 0.1 spider, 1.1 norm. 0.1 dinker,

Yeah you should definitely tong feed. After a while you will condition him/her to only have a feeding response when a shiny metallic object is around.

Make sure your son stops handling him for now. The sav really needs a month and a half of hands off. You run the risk especially at such a young age of creating a flighty/aggressive animal by handling too quickly. Remember this is an animal that will be in your life for at least 10 years with proper care. So keep it slow and build trust on a very gradual scale. After a month and a half you can handle the animal inside the cage only. Keep that up for another 3-4months and then you can handle outside. You have to respect this animals wishes as well. If he hisses or shows any indication that he is done with the interaction, then he is done, let him go.

Also, stay away from the chicken. The vast majority of this animals diet is invertebrates, even lean chicken and turkey is too much fat content and will lead to obesity.

I may have missed it but what kind of setup is he in? Pics?

If you have any questions at all feel free to PM me.

This is his home until he gets bigger I just misted the tank before I decided to take pictures. I'm putting another heat lamp on the tank this weekend.http://img.tapatalk.com/d/13/06/21/u4epy5y2.jpghttp://img.tapatalk.com/d/13/06/21/ju6u5una.jpghttp://img.tapatalk.com/d/13/06/21/3epuma5a.jpg

1.1 pastels, 1.0 lesser, 0.1 het blurry, 0.1 spider, 1.1 norm. 0.1 dinker,

Ok setup for now but that will probably only last him for 3-4 months but I'm sure everyone has said that already.

My suggestions would be to cover the top partially with plywood, add another 4-6 inches of a 70% dirt 30% sand mixture, put 2 50 watt flood lights in, 1 UVB 5.0 bulb, and for now black out 3 sides of the cage with a towel, 4 sides would be better. 75wts is pretty much max for any tank that I would recommend and honestly its not needed if you use multiple 50 watt floods. The key is to just elevate basking spots closer to the light to raise temps like your doing. I'd recommend going out and finding a large creek rock (bowling ball-watermelon size), sanitizing it and throwing that in there. That will retain heat alot better then the wood, and its safer. Also, if you dont already have them, pick up a PE temp gun (pro exotics) and two accurite thermometers (walmart).

Thanks for the info we knew we had to make some changes and now we know what to do. That's why I love this forum I've learned so much from you folks. He is growing very fast.

1.1 pastels, 1.0 lesser, 0.1 het blurry, 0.1 spider, 1.1 norm. 0.1 dinker,

Quote:

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Originally Posted by OctagonGecko729

Ok setup for now but that will probably only last him for 3-4 months but I'm sure everyone has said that already.

My suggestions would be to cover the top partially with plywood, add another 4-6 inches of a 70% dirt 30% sand mixture, put 2 50 watt flood lights in, 1 UVB 5.0 bulb, and for now black out 3 sides of the cage with a towel, 4 sides would be better. 75wts is pretty much max for any tank that I would recommend and honestly its not needed if you use multiple 50 watt floods. The key is to just elevate basking spots closer to the light to raise temps like your doing. I'd recommend going out and finding a large creek rock (bowling ball-watermelon size), sanitizing it and throwing that in there. That will retain heat alot better then the wood, and its safer. Also, if you dont already have them, pick up a PE temp gun (pro exotics) and two accurite thermometers (walmart).

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I'm curious as to what experience you have with varanids that you claim this will work for a few months?? Anyone who's had any experience knows this simply isn't the case.

Ironpython, I'm going to treat you just the same as any other random newbie monitor keeper- again because I care more about the animal than I do your ego, pride, or the like.

Your killing your monitor. Lets go over why everything you are doing is bad. Step by step.

Your cage is a joke. Fish tanks are for.... *drumroll* FISH!!! They are not suitable for monitors in any capacity. They do not hold adequate heat/moisture for the animal to grow properly. It simply isn't possible in a glass/plexi fish tank. On top of the environmental issues- you have to realize- 4 open sides/open top = stress. You may not think he's stressed, but he likely is. He's a lizard not a dog.

Handling.. Again, stress, your son is picking this animal up in the most vulnerable time in its life and carrying him around in his shirt. Not only do you not have proper temperatures outside of the cage (or in it, with your cage), but you're stressing him, and only leading to future problems later in his life. They can/will hold grudges if you force handle them as youngsters, and can turn into some nasty adults.

Hand feeding. Oh boy where to go here! I have 2 monitors at the moment, I've raised dozens to adulthood. Just because you can now doesn't mean anything. Monitors are tough little tanks, sometimes they will endure the stress of hand feeding- just so they don't starve to death. A healthy hungry monitor is an absolute mess to say the least. Mine see me walking to the enclosure with food, and start leaping around, clawing at the doors, biting everything that moves. Surely you don't want this to be your sons fingers? An adult sav can and will do some decent damage to his hand if he gets a good grip on it. It's absolutely a bad idea, don't let him do it because he thinks its cute. Educate him properly.

Sell that aquarium. Honestly it's not expensive to build a 6x3x3 or 8x4x4 plywood cage and seal it. Toss in 2' of sand/dirt substrate to burrow in, keep it hot and humid, basking temps of 130-140F are ideal. Go hands off and feed a varied diet. You'll be shocked as to how your monitor starts to behave when it's kept properly, and how large it will get in a short amount of time.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Dehlol

I'm curious as to what experience you have with varanids that you claim this will work for a few months?? Anyone who's had any experience knows this simply isn't the case.

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One Varanus Exanthematicus in perfect condition at 4 years of age. Goes through routine exams by Dr. Scott Stahl here in northern VA and everything checks out perfect. Also, I'd like to point out that asking me what experience I have is irrelevant to my arguments as that is an ad hominem argument and completely illogical.

And what I meant was, assuming he makes the changes I've stated, his monitor will be ok in a cage that size for 3-4 months. To me it looks like a 20 gallon which is a bit small but a 30 gallon tank will last 5 months so long as it meets these requirements. Properly covered with plywood, misted regularly, inside accessories in tandem with 50wt floods and 5.0 uvb provide 115-130F basking, blacked out sides, and substrate is deep enough for monitor to fully burrow allowing them to regulate humidity as they see fit.

Yes, in a perfect world everyone would go out and build a plywood 6'3'3' for their hatchlings but it just doesnt happen. He is also perfectly aware that he needs to upgrade his cage, he has 3 months to do that if he makes the changes I've stated.

Also, monitors are tough as nails so I'm not sure where you are getting this idea that his animal is dieing from being in that setup. Don't get me wrong, I am in no way advocating he leaves the cage as is because the monitor "can" survive in those conditions. As keepers we need to be responsible for what we get into.