New Black Throat Monitor question

My boyfriend has been wanting a monitor for some time now so when we saw one at the reptile show on Sunday we picked her(we are guessing here) up.

She's just a little thing right now, probably 5-6in from nose to vent. We have her in a 20gal while we build her large enclosure. She ate 3 superworms on Sunday when we got her home but since then she hasn't eaten anything. Her temps are perfect for what we've read, 85 on the cool side, 98 hot side and 141 is the basking temp on the top of her rock hide/basking place.

She seems really lethargic though, she hasn't really moved much at all and feels kind of limp if you pick her up. Any ideas what could be the problem? Since I've never had a monitor before, I'm a little lost on what their daily activity is, I wouldn't think twice about my ball's not ever moving, but seeing her laying in the same spot for over 12 hours seems odd to me.

Thanks for your help

do you know if she is CB or wild caught? I would get her treated for external and internal parasites asap.

She was sold to us as CB.

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Originally Posted by jbean7916

She was sold to us as CB.

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I would get in touch with the breeder at this point then. At least to inform them that there may be a problem, or to see if they can help tweak your set up. From what you described it sounds good; basking spot, temps, etc.

Have you tried crickets or maybe something that moves a little more? I know some of my lizards don't eat meal worms because they don't move enough. That doesn't address the lethargy though.

I hope its just relocation stress or something and she'll snap out of it for you.

yeah we put about a dozen crix in yesterday and she didn't seem to care. We planned on contacting the seller tonight but I thought I'd check on here first and see if anyone has some ideas.

I'm getting mixed information on feeding them too. Some are saying hard boiled eggs and ground turkey can be used to supplement the rodents as they get older but others say (and frankly I tend to agree) that their bodies aren't made to handle cooked foods. Any thoughts?

Bump

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I read today that the cold may have sent her into a short hibernation? Does this sound logical to anyone?

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They don't hibernate like tegus do. If she's laying around without moving, there's most likely something going on.

The temps sound high enough. If you paid under $150 for her, I doubt she was actually CB, since there's a lot of folks selling captive hatch or even WC as CB. I'm not saying definitely.. but it's a possibility. I'd see about getting her treated for parasites, at least see if you can get a poo sample to get it checked.

I feed mine ground turkey, eggs, rodents, chicks, fish.. they are remarkably indiscrimate in their eating habits. I do NOT cook any of it. Sorry, I know folks saying you have to cook the eggs.. but I have yet to see a monitor roaming the savannahs of AFrica with a cookpot and a lighter to cook the eggs they find and eat. Same for ground turkey and fish. We don't cook the rodents to feed our pythons do we? Why do so for monitors?

That said, for babies, the best is insects. If you have a picture, we might be able to tell if she's underweight. But she should be more perky than laying in one spot for 12 hours. I hope she turns around for you.

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Originally Posted by wolfy-hound

They don't hibernate like tegus do. If she's laying around without moving, there's most likely something going on.

The temps sound high enough. If you paid under $150 for her, I doubt she was actually CB, since there's a lot of folks selling captive hatch or even WC as CB. I'm not saying definitely.. but it's a possibility. I'd see about getting her treated for parasites, at least see if you can get a poo sample to get it checked.

I feed mine ground turkey, eggs, rodents, chicks, fish.. they are remarkably indiscrimate in their eating habits. I do NOT cook any of it. Sorry, I know folks saying you have to cook the eggs.. but I have yet to see a monitor roaming the savannahs of AFrica with a cookpot and a lighter to cook the eggs they find and eat. Same for ground turkey and fish. We don't cook the rodents to feed our pythons do we? Why do so for monitors?

That said, for babies, the best is insects. If you have a picture, we might be able to tell if she's underweight. But she should be more perky than laying in one spot for 12 hours. I hope she turns around for you.

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Thanks wolfy, I've been hoping someone would be able to answer me. All I'm getting from the guy i purchased her from is "well she was fine when she was here." He was asking $175 but there was another there and we kind of had them bidding against eachother. Though you're right, it's hard to trust someone you don't know unfortunately. Here's a couple pics of her.

http://i1126.photobucket.com/albums/...y/IMAG0015.jpg

http://i1126.photobucket.com/albums/...y/IMAG0017.jpg

http://i1126.photobucket.com/albums/...y/IMAG0022.jpg

It's like she's always asleep. She will be alert if you pick her up, eyes look clear and she'll wander around a bit until she finds a comfortable spot (like in that last pic) and just falls back asleep.

We tried some monitor food tonight since she's not taking any interest in any insects we have offered (crickets and superworms). I got her to lick on it a little and spoon fed her some.

As soon as she poos I'll take it to the vet, can they do any testing without a fecal? I'm afraid if she doesn't eat, she won't poo. She is drinking though so that's a good sign.

If she's drinking, that's a good sign. Maybe give her some time to settle in without being messed with much, try to get a poo sample for a fecal.

Make sure she's got a lot of hide spots too, in case she's just stressed. Monitors don't do well with stress.

Shes got 1 rock hide/ basking area now, I'm working on making a stack of flat cubby type hides but I'm worried she wouldn't use it because she doesn't climb much yet. Do you think the same newspaper trick used for picky bp's would work?

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I don't think it would hurt, but they usually like things to squeeze under.

Ok Betty wasn't getting much more active so we took her to the vet. He guessed that she was much younger than originally thought, maybe only a month or so old, and malnourished. Shes now taking .1cc of a liquid calcium daily and we're syringe feeding her .5cc's of a protein mixture (chicken, turkey,bone meal and fats) twice a day for a couple days then bumping her up to a full cc twice a day until she starts eating better on her own.

We're still offering insects daily but shes just not strong enough to chase them down.

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I am going to take a wild guess and say she was probably farmed! Its hard on these guys as they hatch and ship and typically are fed very little. Poor little girl....she is just adorable!!!! Thank god it sounds like you have a great vet!!

As far as the feeding....you can do eggs...I cook them and my tree monitor loves it!. As far as the turkey and other meat...you give it raw...NOT COOKED. I might suggest once she gets going to get yourself a couple pounds of ground turkey and a pound of beef liver. Grind it all up and mix it together. Then put 1 meal in a baggie and continue till its gone. Then take all the baggies and put them in a freezer zip loc. This makes it so easy to just pull out ...thaw and feed. This was recommended to me by Bobby the owner of Varnyard and one of the top tegu breeders. It works awesome

Good luck and let us know how your little baby is doing!

Well after just 4 days of syringe feeding little ms. Betty is obviously doing better. She's not up and running around yet but she is moving a lot more and holding her head up much better. She even snapped at my boyfriend while he was trying to get her to open up for her dinner! I'd say thats a good sign. She hasn't poo'd yet so shes still getting .5cc's 2x a day. I'm hoping shes digesting everything ok.

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NObody mentioned humidity. Lack of humidity causes the issues you are describing. Screen-top enclosures are certian death. I killed a water monitor with one when all other specs were perfect. Black throats are no different. Soooo what do you have him in?

She was in a screen top but it was covered in foil to hold humidity, her substrate was always kept moist and the humidity was 70% or higher (always higher right after we misted). We were also soaking her daily before her prolapse and after it retracted as well.



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