Formally Introducing Thyssa The Yellow Tree Monitor....

http://i936.photobucket.com/albums/a.../thyssa006.jpg

Its my Valentines Day present from my hubby. :) We bought her from Christian at Predators Reptile Center in Mesa. (which if you have never been in or met Christian...he is just amazing) We walked in to talk to Christian and see why type of Ball Pythons he had. He always has a great selection of different things. Well....we were waiting for him to finish up with a customer and that is when I saw her. She was soooooooooo cute I fell in love instantly. The best part....she is a total sweetheart!! We brought her home and gave her a bath and trimmed those razors she has for nails. She did not even flinch. Today she fell asleep on me for a bit while I was petting her. Just a little lap dog...lol. Ok maybe the pitbull of lap dogs. :rolleyes: She has already eaten a couple of mice and some eggs and has claimed our formal living room as her playground!! We have her in a very large tank right now but are currently working on her perm. home. :D:D:D

ooooooooh fancy!!

lol...she is so awesome!!! You may need one of these too....lol:P

Very nice!

Gorgeous little pumpkin(s). Congratulations on your New addition:thumbsup:

i'm so jealous :) of your new friend and of your hubby! lucky lady!

WOW! looks so awsome! I wish i got that present for valentines day! good luck with it and do post pictures of it growing!!

Will this cage beat out your bearded dragons cage? Whatever you guys put together, its gonna be sweet.
More pics of the monitor =D

Thanks everyone! She is quite the character....rivals gizmo with her antics thus far. She gets into something and then looks at you with her long royal neck like..."what, that was there for my pleasure correct?"...lol

lk - I am a lucky girl to have such an amazing hubby I do have to say!! He puts up with all my crazy ideas and wants....lol

DZ - I want this cage... http://www.jworlds.net/ but there is NO WAY I can justify paying that type of money for a cage. So we are going to try to build one similar to it. I just don't want the water feature. However doing more research....I do think we will plumb it to drain water out. That way you can actually bring a hose to it and clean it easily. I was also thinking of instilling a warm mist humidifier in it as well. ?? Someone gave us a great idea yesterday and it is making some type of hollowed out log, and splitting it in half length wise. Then you take it and hinge it so that when they are in there you are not grabbing to get them. You just open it up. Thought it was an amazing idea....we are going to try to do that as well. We will see!! This will by far be our biggest cage. I am excited to get started on it.

Congratulations! Cool little monitor.

She is just beautiful Michelle and adorable too! Man, I wish I would get cool gifts like that!

In Youtube there is this lady who absolutely knows everything about monitors! she has the green trees, blue trees and yellows too! She also built her own cage for the green trees so she made a video of how she made it! im sure it could be helpful! Check her channel out! her name is

Reptile Whisperer!

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Originally Posted by BPelizabeth

http://i936.photobucket.com/albums/a.../thyssa006.jpg

Its my Valentines Day present from my hubby. :) We bought her from Christian at Predators Reptile Center in Mesa. (which if you have never been in or met Christian...he is just amazing) We walked in to talk to Christian and see why type of Ball Pythons he had. He always has a great selection of different things. Well....we were waiting for him to finish up with a customer and that is when I saw her. She was soooooooooo cute I fell in love instantly. The best part....she is a total sweetheart!! We brought her home and gave her a bath and trimmed those razors she has for nails. She did not even flinch. Today she fell asleep on me for a bit while I was petting her. Just a little lap dog...lol. Ok maybe the pitbull of lap dogs. :rolleyes: She has already eaten a couple of mice and some eggs and has claimed our formal living room as her playground!! We have her in a very large tank right now but are currently working on her perm. home. :D:D:D

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i know christian quite well i helped out at the shop couple years ago!!!! great guy very knowedgable!! my buddy also is a supplier of bps to him.. great lookin monitor!

also what did you end up paying for het if you dont mind me askin? an did christian ever get the website back up i havent been able to find it since he moved shops

Christian traded some balls for her so he stated he had $550 in her. He was asking $700 but he gave her to us for $600- She is already a proven breeder and he wants to get a male. So we may do something later on with them. Their incubation time is crazy though!!!! Yea I don't know whats up with his website...it was up a while ago.

We need more pics :p
She looks so cute

thats pretty cool... christian is always willin to work a deal with good ppl

yea he's a great guy! This is my second buy from him. Super nice guy!! Great person to do business with!

Very nice Monitor! I knew they had greens and blues but thats the first yellow I've seen. Congrats on the new pick up!

Oooo..common mistake. That is not a yellow tree monitor, but a Quince Monitor. It's nice and gentle at the moment, but once it's in the cage with the correct temps and humidity it'll be a monster. Also..if you correctly do the enclosure, which is lot's of foliage and branches..you'll start suffering from empty cage syndrome. I hope you did your research because this animal will get big and will eat lots and lots of insects. Not being rude, just giving some friendly advice :)

actually its the same thing, just another name for them. She will not get any bigger in length but can stand to gain a little weight as she is pretty skinny right now. She is already an adult and a proven breeder. From my research and talking to others that have had these....you just need to handle them and they will calm down. I would say if she didn't bite me the first day while I was trimming her nails and filing them down a bit....Im probably fairly good. But as with anything...there is always a chance of being bitten. As far as her eating habits....she gets a couple of mice a week and the rest of the time she will get scrambled eggs, raw liver and turkey.

I will agree with you on one point though....I probaby won't see much of her in the cage as she tends to burrow and hide in things.

Well it looks a bit small for it's age. Also..handling will only stress the monitor, an angry monitor is a healthy monitor. The nails also do not need to be trimmed..they use those to climb. Mice and all those are un-healthy for your lizard and it will grow to be obese. Like I said...lots and lots of insects...with fish..not feeder but the kind you get from the real store or fish market along with quail eggs and chicks. An occasional rodent is alright...and the eggs will fatten it up. Remember though, whole prey items.

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Originally Posted by WhenBoySetsFire

Well it looks a bit small for it's age. Also..handling will only stress the monitor, an angry monitor is a healthy monitor. The nails also do not need to be trimmed..they use those to climb. Mice and all those are un-healthy for your lizard and it will grow to be obese. Like I said...lots and lots of insects...with fish..not feeder but the kind you get from the real store or fish market along with quail eggs and chicks. An occasional rodent is alright...and the eggs will fatten it up. Remember though, whole prey items.

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So tell me what is your experience with monitors? I looked on your profile and you didn't have anything listed. Just curious...certainly not trying to argue with you....just trying to judge your experience! I do a TON of research on all of my animals so they are kept at an optimum environment so they can thrive!

I agree she does look a little thin as I said previously. As far as the handling and the "angry monitor" thing. Tree monitors are known for being more passive than the other monitors out there. They are much more likey to squirm, scratch and defecate on you prior to biting you. Though she has squrimed a bit at times she has never defecated on us. She is allowed to wander around the house each day for a bit and is NOT intimidated when we pick her up or walk over to her at all. With patience they can be tamed down a lot. Though with her she is already quite tame. For cutting their nails....no you dont HAVE to, however there is nothing wrong with trimming them down a bit and filing so that you can handle them. She is perfectly able to climb still as they are only dulled a bit. Not sure where you got your information regarding the mice? They are fine for her a couple times a week along with the liver and turkey. I could add fish to that though not sure I will. As far as the insects....you are really looking at feeding those to young monitors not adults other than a little treat here and there.

Actually, I don't think quince monitors and yellow tree monitors are the same thing.
Quince monitors, which also get called yellow monitors, are V. melinus and true yellow tree monitors are V. reisingeri.

Geez how did introducing my new monitor turn into all this....lol :rolleyes:

from all the research I have done it seems almost like the whole...butter and lesser. Some say its the same some say its totally different. Finding valid information in regards to V. reisingeri is like pulling teeth and most of its in different languages. You can find information on V. melinus and in all areas they refer to it as Yellow monitor, yellow tree monitor or quince monitor. I have seen pictures of the two and to me it looks like one is heated and one is cold. Just as Thyssa is when she is out of her cage(a very washed out color)....and when she is in her cage basking(an irridecent almost neon green color).

By all means if I am wrong I would welcome the knowledge as I want to do what is best for the monitor. Some say feed fish...some studies have stated that only pellets and prawns were taken not actual fish. Some even state you can feed some dog food which I would think would definetly be a bad choice as it is filled with so many bi-products.

Im not familiar with all this monitor stuff but id love to see some more pics of her! The first pic made me want to see more, i love her color.

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Originally Posted by BPelizabeth

yea he's a great guy! This is my second buy from him. Super nice guy!! Great person to do business with!

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wow i just found this picture... this was when i help out at shop years ago in the old shop an the albino burm we rescued they day i was there.. he suffered from severe neuro damage was left in a vision in a garage in chandler during summer..
http://i42.photobucket.com/albums/e3...inooldshop.jpg

I think handling is fine, on the animals terms, but I don't like force handling. Patience is key! :P

The monitor is beautiful!

Such a cool pic John....so did the burmese end up living? He looks like a sweetie in that pic. So weird to see that store as I only know his new store and it is sooooo well put together!

DZ...working on those pics. She is pretty camara shy. I tried last night and she was just NOT having it.....lol. Will try during her out and about time tommorrow. ;)

Purple...I couldn't agree with you more! Well stated!!

she did live not sure where she is at now but she did make a decent recovery couldnt feed live but she atleast fed

Actually it's more similar to a ball python and a burmese python. Not a butter and a lesser. THese animals are different species entirely. These people are trying to help you, don't be so dismissive.

It turned into this because taxonomy is important. Knowing what you own is good in order to provide proper care.

ALso, although in the same family, melinus is more similar to the mangrove monitors and grows a bit larger than the true tree monitors.

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Originally Posted by BPelizabeth

Geez how did introducing my new monitor turn into all this....lol :rolleyes:

from all the research I have done it seems almost like the whole...butter and lesser. Some say its the same some say its totally different. Finding valid information in regards to V. reisingeri is like pulling teeth and most of its in different languages. You can find information on V. melinus and in all areas they refer to it as Yellow monitor, yellow tree monitor or quince monitor. I have seen pictures of the two and to me it looks like one is heated and one is cold. Just as Thyssa is when she is out of her cage(a very washed out color)....and when she is in her cage basking(an irridecent almost neon green color).

By all means if I am wrong I would welcome the knowledge as I want to do what is best for the monitor. Some say feed fish...some studies have stated that only pellets and prawns were taken not actual fish. Some even state you can feed some dog food which I would think would definetly be a bad choice as it is filled with so many bi-products.

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Originally Posted by qiksilver

Actually it's more similar to a ball python and a burmese python. Not a butter and a lesser. THese animals are different species entirely. These people are trying to help you, don't be so dismissive.

It turned into this because taxonomy is important. Knowing what you own is good in order to provide proper care.

ALso, although in the same family, melinus is more similar to the mangrove monitors and grows a bit larger than the true tree monitors.

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Don't mistake my asking questions or doing research as dismissive! That is the furthest from the truth. Its not any different than looking at several care sheets and talking to ppl to find out the best husbandry methods. Bottom line I don't care if she is a one eye'd frog with horns....I liked her. And obviously taxonomy is important to know how to take care of each individual reptile. I think that is apparent in any of my posts. Not to mention I don't know many ppl that would spend that type of money on a reptile and then NOT do their homework on it, leading to the monitor dying. Its not like we just have ooddles of disposable cash here.

What I am asking is what is the difference...show me the information regarding the V. reisingeri species as with all my research (which was pretty much all day yesterday) there is not much out there. Other than of course ppl stating that they are different.

Look I am not trying to come off as a monitor expert.....Im not at all in fact just the opposite. This is my first monitor and nothing I thought I would ever get into. But with that let me say again, I am all about the research on how to take care of every reptile and with that research so far I have found nothing really different other than a few ppl stating that they are. As I also stated if you look at the pics on line....Thyssa looks like both depending on where she is.

That's fine, just didn't come off that way in this particular thread.

V reisengeri is in the 'prasinus complex' which are the true tree monitors. These are the lithe, long monitors that you think of as the typical tree monitors.
V melinus is more similar to a small doreanus. These are typically called Quince monitors. They're a bit longer and tend to be generally thicker, I'm sure you know what I mean. The melinus are also a bit less arboreal.

This being said, I find Thyssa to be clearly melinus by pictures although I'm no expert. They'll both required hot basking spots, lots of climbing and higher humidity, but I have heard from keepers that melinus tend to stay lower in the cage and will dig more than the tree monitors.

Here's a quick summary of natural history: http://www.monitor-lizards.net/speci...s/melinus.html

And check out Biawak Volume 4 Number 3 for an account of breeding this species that covers housing and general care.

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Originally Posted by BPelizabeth

Don't mistake my asking questions or doing research as dismissive! That is the furthest from the truth. Its not any different than looking at several care sheets and talking to ppl to find out the best husbandry methods. Bottom line I don't care if she is a one eye'd frog with horns....I liked her. And obviously taxonomy is important to know how to take care of each individual reptile. I think that is apparent in any of my posts. Not to mention I don't know many ppl that would spend that type of money on a reptile and then NOT do their homework on it, leading to the monitor dying. Its not like we just have ooddles of disposable cash here.

What I am asking is what is the difference...show me the information regarding the V. reisingeri species as with all my research (which was pretty much all day yesterday) there is not much out there. Other than of course ppl stating that they are different.

Look I am not trying to come off as a monitor expert.....Im not at all in fact just the opposite. This is my first monitor and nothing I thought I would ever get into. But with that let me say again, I am all about the research on how to take care of every reptile and with that research so far I have found nothing really different other than a few ppl stating that they are. As I also stated if you look at the pics on line....Thyssa looks like both depending on where she is.

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yes I have seen this info on V melinus just cannot find any information on V reisengeri so as to do a comparision. If you have a link to the info on V reisengeri I would greatly appreciate it.

It's simply an insular form of a previously described group, like beccarii are from Aru and boehmi is from Waigeo, and it's believed the care is reflected as such. This has been the case thus far. There are many accounts of successful keeping and breeding of these prasinus-complex animals.

I believe the first account of this species can be found in Biawak as well, v4#2.

And I made a spelling error previously, it's reisingeri... whoops.

Anyway, good luck, melinus are underappreciated in captivity... and take lots of pictures and post them here. Also, successes and failures in husbandry would be great.

Thank you for that. I will continue to post pics when I can get them....she is not fond of picture taking....lol. Give me a while to see what works with her and I will try to come up with some do's...and hopefully not many don'ts. Right now she is still so new and getting use to us as we are getting use to her.

Michelle, Thyssa is so cute. I like that she claimed your living room for a playground...too funny !

sent from my EVO , with Tapatalk

cant wait till my sav get a lil bigger so he can roam the house..

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Originally Posted by qiksilver

That's fine, just didn't come off that way in this particular thread.

V reisengeri is in the 'prasinus complex' which are the true tree monitors. These are the lithe, long monitors that you think of as the typical tree monitors.
V melinus is more similar to a small doreanus. These are typically called Quince monitors. They're a bit longer and tend to be generally thicker, I'm sure you know what I mean. The melinus are also a bit less arboreal.

This being said, I find Thyssa to be clearly melinus by pictures although I'm no expert. They'll both required hot basking spots, lots of climbing and higher humidity, but I have heard from keepers that melinus tend to stay lower in the cage and will dig more than the tree monitors.

Here's a quick summary of natural history: http://www.monitor-lizards.net/speci...s/melinus.html

And check out Biawak Volume 4 Number 3 for an account of breeding this species that covers housing and general care.

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I agree Mike, it looks nothing like a reisngeri.

As for it being called quince or a yellow - they've been used interchangeably for years.

As for diet - the advice you've been given regarding going light on the rodents and heavier on the fish, whole prawns, poultry and insects is spot on.

As for husbandry - you're gonna need a hot, hot spot, lotsa room, a nice big water container and the ability to defeat that Arizona dryness........

So funny you jumped in here as I was going to email you about this. Since I could not find anything on reisngeri I though...hmmmmm....you are probably one of the best ppl I know that would be able to answer my questions. I just didn't want to bug you during the busy season.

Yea Mike and I have been communicating in PM and he has given me some places to do more research on the differences. Plus another website that does more with the monitors. Huge help.

Sooooooooooo once I get this done I will post the differences on here so that ppl can be more aware. It took me forever to find the info I did find and it was sparse at best.

What about the liver? Right now I am mixing her turkey with liver?? And why the bugs...(I seriously hate the bugs)....its not on any of the care sheets I have found other than when they are young.

Hi,
Matt did a great job collecting photos/info on the different species of the indicus complex just for a pic reference.
http://indicus-complex.webs.com/

Anyway, I swear I've seen a stomach content review for indicus, but cannot find it now. Lots of crabs...

Also, personal opinion, stick with the bugs, they're a perfect staple (I love dubia as a feeder)... crayfish and prawns get expensive ;)

*just fyi, indicus used for example as they're better researched, and thought to be similar

Hi skip, been a while.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by qiksilver

Hi,
Matt did a great job collecting photos/info on the different species of the indicus complex just for a pic reference.
http://indicus-complex.webs.com/

Anyway, I swear I've seen a stomach content review for indicus, but cannot find it now. Lots of crabs...

Also, personal opinion, stick with the bugs, they're a perfect staple (I love dubia as a feeder)... crayfish and prawns get expensive ;)

*just fyi, indicus used for example as they're better researched, and thought to be similar

Hi skip, been a while.

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Hiya Mike - it certainly has.......

When I had more varanids, I took full advantage of being so close to Mr. Tuttle of Blaberus.Com..........roaches are the perfect varanid food - so easy to cultivate and so hard to have a monitor do bad on them.

A very close friend of mine keeps melinus. He lives in an Eichler home that has a fully enclosed open courtyard that measures 15x15. He has it fully planted with tropical plants and nice compact ( yet deep) pond. It's a pretty trick set up with times misters and supplemental heating. Next time I visit, I'll snap some pics.

During the latter part of the spring and through September, he keeps the melinus in the courtyard. They rarely climb the plants and instead tend to stay near the pond.

Watching them dive into the pond after crayfish is a trip - I mean the little buggers tear right after them and will dive all the way to the bottom to grab them.

He purchased several freshwater snails and plants to keep the algae down and the melinus will tear up the plants and depopulate the pond of all sizable snails.


Elizabeth:

Do not take the advice people are trying to give you the wrong way. Many dedicated varanid keepers are very sensitive to how monitors are kept. There is so much bad husbandry advice floating around that alot of these wonderful animals end up living unhealthy, uncomfortable and short lives.

I know that Repti-Racks is making aluminum-framed arboreal monitor caging. It isn't cheap, but then again, nothing about properly keeping these animals is.

The key is to provide proper space, proper heat, proper humidity and proper diet. Varanids like it hot, they need a lot of room to exercise not only their bodies but to provide room for exploration and mental stimulation, and they need a diet that is as close to what they would get in the wild.

Mike has already provided a link to Biawak - and most of the issues can be accessed on line. There are also a couple of dedicated monitor forums.

A word of caution - these forums are very intolerant and can seem downright rude when it comes to "newbie" questions. The best thing to do is join and then use the search function to expand your knowledge.

Check out:

varanus.net

Beautiful monitor. I'm a huge fan of the subgenus that includes V. melinus. As mentioned earlier, that is a beautiful example of V. melinus. When they were first imported in the late 90s they were given the misleading name "yellow tree monitor" which is sometimes still used (quince monitor is the name that typically is applied to them now). Though they are in the same subgenus as the prasinus complex (including the other yellow tree monitor V. reisingeri) they are actually more similar to the V. indicus or V. doreanus in care. Most of the mangrove type monitors tend to do better with large pools, climbing areas, and digging areas. They're kind of a pain to house relative to some of the others, but worth the extra effort. My V. yuwonoi are little bulldozers. Kind of sucks having a blue lizard constantly caked in a coat of brown, but it works for them. Anyway, congrats on the new purchase. The best thing is don't go cheap on caging. Spend the money in the beginning and it will be better on both of you.

Monitors are a bit of an obsession of mine so if you have any questions that I can help with feel free to drop me a PM.

J

Wow you guys are not kidding about the bogus information out there. I think that is why I was so adamant at first as nothing was adding up to what I was seeing. What I have found is that a lot of the true information is given in very scientific terms. (Hard read for my little blonde self)lol. I am still doing research on both species and will put on here a detail of the differences. In layman terms. Its amazing to me even some of the sites that are suppose to know about this stuff are putting out wrong information. Just crazy!! I do apologize if I offended anyone. Was not trying to....as I told Mike...I do not just take someones advice as the spoken truth unless I can see the actual proof. Mike you did that for me and I thank you! Skip.....you could tell me the sky is a shade of green and I would take your word for it!!! :P
J mug....I will totally be taking you up on that offer...watch out.

As far as the cage....not sure if you are familiar with anything my hubby and I have built but we are currently designing a cage for Thyssa. It will have a deep pool for her to swim in and we are installing a heater under it to keep the water at a better temp. We also will be istalling some type of misting system as well. The whole thing will be plumbed to a drain so that cleaning can be as simple as pulling in a hose and draining it out.

Ya know I am a huge proponet of doing your research prior to getting an animal and with Thyssa....I really thought I had it down....clearly not!!!!

Again I appreciate all of your help and check out her new photos....crazy lil monitor!!

Skip....I just love you!!!! You are truly the best!!

I'm still new around this forum so I'm not familiar with the cages you have done in the past. Sounds like you're doing it right though. Are you putting a filter on the pond? I grew tired of draining, cleaning and refilling water dishes every day so we attached a sump system to each cage. It allows us to keep things a bit cleaner and also allows the addition of a heater without worrying about the lizards breaking it and hurting themselves.

As for temperament, of the indicus-type I've seen more tolerant V. melinus than most the others. My V. yuwonoi will charge at me and chase me from their cages. The V. melinus I've seen aren't quite the same. In a proper set up they may be shy at first but even my defensive adults will now bask when I'm around. They just stand up and hiss a bit when I'm too close.

Ohhhh the sump pump is a great idea....I will bring that up to my husband. I come up with the ideas and the design and the hubby executes....lol I stay away from the technical build out. lol

I have really no experience with monitors ....this is my first. I originally thought I was going to get a tegu. But after experiencing my first mating season with a friend of mines tegu....I changed my mind. It was out to kill everyone and I gotta say....it freaked me out!! There is something to be said for a large tegu with his mouth open chasing you:rolleyes: So far I am very lucky with Thyssa...she is very docile, and not timid or shy with us at all so far. Of course with anything...that can always turn ugly. :rolleyes: So with that said my son is not allowed to handle her or the iggy or be around them without supervision.

PS....I would love to see pics of yours....

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Originally Posted by BPelizabeth

Ohhhh the sump pump is a great idea....I will bring that up to my husband. I come up with the ideas and the design and the hubby executes....lol I stay away from the technical build out. lol

I have really no experience with monitors ....this is my first. I originally thought I was going to get a tegu. But after experiencing my first mating season with a friend of mines tegu....I changed my mind. It was out to kill everyone and I gotta say....it freaked me out!! There is something to be said for a large tegu with his mouth open chasing you:rolleyes: So far I am very lucky with Thyssa...she is very docile, and not timid or shy with us at all so far. Of course with anything...that can always turn ugly. :rolleyes: So with that said my son is not allowed to handle her or the iggy or be around them without supervision.

PS....I would love to see pics of yours....

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I'm doing some final adjustments to some new cages this weekend. Once those are done I'll post pics of the set-up (plus offer recommendations to avoid pitfalls I encountered).